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ABBEYS,  CASTLES, 


AND 


ANCIENT     HALLS 

OF 

ENGLAND    AND    WALES; 

THEIR    LEGENDARY    LORE    AND    POPULAR    HISTORY. 

BY 

JOHN    TIMES. 

RE-EDITED,   REVISED,   AND   ENLARGED   i:v 

ALEXANDER    GUNN. 

WITH    PHOTOGRAPHS. 
SOUTH. 


LONDON : 
FREDERICK     WARNE     AND     CO., 

BEDFORD  STREET,  STRAND. 


^  [  '^-r]^ 


JJH 


VI 


PUBLISHERS'   PREFACE 

TO 

THE     SECOND    EDITION. 


HE  reception  accorded  to  the  first  edition  of  the  present 
work  has  induced  the  Pubhshers,  at  considerable  expense, 
to  have  it  reproduced  in  a  more  complete  and  popular 


form. 


The  present  edition  has,  therefore,  been  carefully  re-edited,  re- 
vised, and  enlarged  to  three  volumes,  by  a  gentleman  acquainted 
with  the  subject ;  the  Appendix  has  been  incorporated  into  the  body 
of  the  book ;  the  Counties  have  all  been  re-arranged,  and  grouped, 
as  nearly  as  may  be,  in  each  volume,  into  Southern,  Midland,  and 
Northern  ;  and  all  the  added  articles  have  as  little  of  the  merely 
archaeological  and  as  much  of  the  more  interesting  historical,  bio- 
graphical, and  traditionary  elements  m  ihem  as  possible. 

With  these  changes,  the  Publishers  tinist  the  work  will  be  found 
more  useful  and  attractive  than  before. 


BsOFOKO  Street,  Covent  Gardkn^ 
Dtctmbtr,  1872. 


-r 


--a 

« 

V 

—    - .  -^..      .  - 

1 -^3^^H0BMBI^^^^9mp 

•r  JAMCs'i   miAcc.  London 

CONTENTS 

OF 

THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


All  those  articles  marked  with  an  asterisk  {•)  are  neto— those  with  an  obelisk  (t)  have 
been  altered  or  extended. 


LONDON  AND  ITS  ENVIRONS. 

PACB 

Wonders  of  Old  St.  Paul's i 

The  Building  of  Westminster  Abbey 7 

A  Legend  of  Kilburn  Priory 13 

The  Tower,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison,  and  its  Memories   .  15 

tLegendary  Stories,  and  Ballads  of  Old  London  Bridge    .    .  33 

Bermondsey  Abbey,  and  its  Memories 41 

Founding  the  Priory  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Great    ....  47 

Romance  of  Baynard's  Castle 52 

The  Beggar's  Daughter  of  Bethnal  Green 56 

The  Lollards  at  Lambeth  Palace 58 

Stories  of  the  Savoy 63 

Siege  of  Essex  House. — Queen  Elizabeth's  Ring 70 

The  Strange  History  of  Lady  Hatton 77 

Halliwell,  or  Holywell  Priory,  Shoreditch 83 

Stories  of  Old  Somerset  House 85 

Sir  Edmond  Berry  Godfrey,  his  Mysterious  Death     ....  87 

Canonbury,  and  Lady  Elizabeth  Compton 90 

"  The  Lady  Arabella's  "  Fatal  Marriage 98 

Newcastle  House,  and  its  Eccentric  Duchess 103 

The  Field  of  Forty  Footsteps 106 

Stories  of  Temple  Bar 107 


viii  Contents. 

PACK 

The  Knights  Templars  in  London 112 

The  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem    ....  117 
Queen  Elizabeth,  the  Manor  of  Pleazaunce,  and  Greenwich 

Castle 120 

Kenningt on  Palace,  and  the  Princes  of  Wales 128 

Eltham  Palace 129 

Shene,  or  Richmond  Palace 133 

Hampton  Court  Palace 139 

The  Palace  of  Nonsuch 144 

The  Palace  of  Oatlands 146 

St.  James's  Palace 148 

Kensington  Palace 151 

Carlton  House 152 

The  Archiepiscopal  Palace,  Croydon 153 

The  Minories 155 

Sion  House,  Isleworth 157 

Ham  House,  Petersham 159 

Holland  House,  and  its  Memories 161 

Osterley  Park,  and  Sir  Thomas  Gresham 165 

Enfield  Palace 166 

The  Palace  of  Whitehall 168 

♦Durham  House 173 

*Campden  House,  Kensington 178 

♦Northumberland  House 180 

♦The  Priory  or  Monastery  of  the  Black  Friars 183 

The  Palace  of  Theobalds,  Cheshunt 188 

Canons,  near  Edgware,  and  "  the  Great  Duke  of  Chandos"    .  194 

Stories  of  the  Star  Chamber 201 

ESSEX. 

Colchester  Castle 2H 

The  Priory  of  St.  Osyth 2i6 

The  Priory  of  Little  Dunmow,  and  the  Flitch  of  Bacon 

Custom 222 

Hedingham  Castle 229 

Saffron  Walden  Castle  and  Audlcy  End 230 

Barking  Abbey. — Bow  Bridge 232 

I ngatcstonc  Hall.— Hiding  Places  of  Priests 235 

Wanstcad  House 238 

Wavering  Bower,  or  Havcring-attc-Bowcr 240 


Contents.  ix 

PACK 

tTilbury  Fort 241 

Waltham  Abbey. — Burial  Place  of  Harold 243 

The  Burial  of  Harold 249 

Nell  Gwynn's  House,  and  Looking-glass 252 

*New  Hall  Manor,  and  the  Fate  of  the  First  Duke  of  Bucking- 
ham    256 

SURREY. 

Guildford  Castle 266 

Waverley  Abbey 268 

Moor  Park 271 

Farnnam  Castle 273 

The  Priory  of  Newark 276 

Reigate  Castle 278 

Chertsey  Abbey 281 

Merton  Priory 284 

KENT. 

Rochester  Castle 286 

Richborough  Castle 290 

Reculver 291 

Stutfall  Castle 292 

H ever  Castle  and  Anne  Boleyn 294 

Tunbridge  Castle  ,v^.     .     .    ^ 301 

Penshurst  Place  and  the  Sydneys 303 

Knole  Park  and  Buckhurst 308 

Lesnes  Abbey 310 

Dartford  Nunnery  </. 312 

AUington  Castle,  and  the  Wyatts 313 

Leeds  Castle 314 

Saltwood  Castle 317 

Mailing  Abbey 319 

Faversham  Abbey 321 

Dover  Castle     .v 323 

Sandown  Castle 326 

Sandgate  Castle     ' 327 

Folkestone  Castle  and  Nunnery       327 

Walmer  Castle 328 

The  Monastery  of  St.  Augustine  at  Canterbury 331 


^^tNXA/^'^**-  ''^^ 


X  Contents, 

I  PAGB 

Canterbury  Castle 333 

The  Crispes  of  the  Isle  of  Thanet 334 

The  Ellington  Murder 335 

Legends  of  Minster  At oey 336 

Cobham  Hall 340 

Thurnham  Castle 342 

♦Canterbury  Cathedral,  and  the  Murder  of  Thomas  k  Becket  343 


SUSSEX. 

Pevensey  Castle     .•^. 355 

Hastings  Castle 357 

Battle  Abbey 360 

Bramber  Castle 363 

Bodiam  Castle 364 

Arundel  Castle 367 

Hurstmonceux  Castle 370 

Cowdray  House 373 

Lewes  Castle,  and  Priory    V .     .     ► 378 

♦Chichester  Cathedral    .^ 380 

HAMPSHIRE. 

Winchester  Castle  and  Palace     .  w 384 

King  Arthur's  Round  Table  at  Winchester 386 

Wolvesey  Castle 388 

Manor  of  Merdon,  and  the  Cromwells 389 

The  Hospital  of  St.  Cross 390 

Winchester  Cross. — St.  Giles's  Hill  Fair 393 

Southampton  Castle,  and  Ancient  Houses 394 

King  Canute. — Abbey  of  St.  Bennet    .    y 396 

Netlcy  Abbey    .     .    .     / 397 

Beaulicu  Abbey     .  •^. 399 

The  Castle  of  Odiham 400 

The  Siege  of  Basing  House 403 

The  Roman  City  of  Silchester  / 407 

Strathficldsayc 410 

Porchcstcr  Castle 413 

Christchurch  Priory 415 

The  Isle  of  Wight 417 

CarLsbrook  Cabtlc . 419 


Contents,  xi 

FAGK 

Osborne  House 427 

*Winchester  Cathedral  .''...... 428 


.  DORSET. 

Dorchester  Castle  and  Priory 440 

The  Abbey  of  Cerne  > 440 

Wimborne  Minster 442 

Wimborne  St.  Giles,  and  the  Shaftesbury  Family     ....  444 

Shaftesbury  Nunnery,  and  Prize  Byzant  .'^ 446 

Sherborne  Abbey  .     ♦^ 448 

Sherborne  Castle,  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 449 

Lullworth  Castle 452 

tCorfe  Castle    .  *^. 453 

*Smedmore  House 465 

DEVONSHIRE. 

Exeter  Castle 470 

Tavistock  Abbey 471 

/  Berry  Pomeroy  Castle 473 

♦/Lydford  Castle 474 

v'  Compton  Castle 475 

Combe  Marten  Celebrities 477 

>/Totnes  Castle 478 

Buckfastleigh,  and  its  Abbey  .  *^ •    .  479 

Torrington  and  Appledore 480 

^Dartmouth  Castle 481 

The  Adventures  of  Sir  Gawen 482 

The  Piskies  of  Devon  and  Cornwall 484 

*Buckland  Abbey,  and  Sir  Francis  Drake    .*/, 488 

CORNWALL. 

Mount  St.  Michael 497 

■^    Tintagel  Castle 499 

Memorials  of  King  Arthur  in  Cornwall 500 

Bodmin,  and  its  Monasteries 501 

>/  Launceston  Castle 503 

The  Priory  of  St.  Germans      .*^ 505 

^  Carn-brea  Castle   .'^ 505 


xii  Contents. 

FACS 

bubterranean  Chambers  and  Bee-hive  Houses  in  Cornwall    .  506 

Cornish  Hill  Castles 510 

The  Great  Tolmaen  of  Cornwall 5T2 

J  Pendennis  Castle «  514 

♦Mount  Edgecumbe,  and  Cothele  House 515 

V    *Pengerswick  Castle 521 

*Cornish  Family  Traditions 527 

*The  Last  of  the  Killigrews ,    i    .    .    .    »    ,  529 

CHANNEL  ISLANDS. 

•'' Castle  Cornet,  Guernsey     .     •>, ^  »KC\  •    .«Si  533 


Orgueil  f*v2^) 


y    Jersey.tr-Castles  Elizabeth  and- Mont  Orgueil  (^V  ^"^^iJffjJi  Ji  534 

The  Isle  of  Alderney ,  539 

SOMERSETSHIRE. 

The  Isl«  of  Athelney  and  King  Alfred's  Monastery  .  •  ,    .    ,  540 

The  Tradition  of  Stanton  Drew 541 

Bath  Abbey 542 

•J    Bristol :  its  Monastery  and  Castle  .  >K    » 543 

^    Dunster  Castle  and  Pripry 546 

^  Taunton  Castle 547 

The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury     ."^ 548 

-J  ♦Bridgewater  Castle  and  the  Battle  of  Sedgemoor     ....  558 

Canyngton  Priory  and  Fair  Rosamond    ........  567 


ABBEYS,    CASTLES,    AND 
ANCIENT     HALLS 

OF 


(X 


LONDON  AND  ITS  ENVIRONS. 

Wonders  of  Old  Saint  Paul's. 

HE  high  ground  upon  which  the  Cathedral  stands— the 
loftiest  in  the  metropolis — denotes  it  as  the  likeliest  to  be 
chosen,  in  any  age,  for  the  site  of  its  chief  edifice  devoted  to 
religious  worship.  That  it  was  first  dedicated  to  heathenism 
is  sought  to  be  proved  by  the  finding  of  a  stone  altar  sculptured  with 
the  image  of  Diana,  during  the  excavations  for  the  foundations  of  Gold- 
smiths' Hall,  in  1830.  Hence  the  idea  that  a  temple  to  Diana  first 
occupied  the  site.  Next  a  Roman  camp  was  fixed  here :  then  a  Saxon 
temple ;  and  then  an  episcopal  see  fixed  in  London  by  Mellitus,  the 
companion  of  St.  Augustine.  Next,  a  cathedral  was  built  here  by 
Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  among  whose  gifts  to  the  church  was  the 
estate  of  Tillingham,  Essex,  which  even  now  contributes  largely  to  the 
maintenance  of  the  fabric.  The  fourth  bishop  was  the  famous  St- 
Erkenwald,  whose  shrine  stood  at  the  back  of  the  high  altar. 

The  tower  and  spire  rose  520  feet,  or  higher  than  the  Monument 
placed  upon  the  cross  of  the  present  Cathedral.  It  had  a  copper  gilt 
bowl,  nine  feet  in  compass  (large  enough  to  hold  ten  bushels  of  com), 
Jupporting  a  cross  15^  feet  high,  surmounted  by  an  eagle-cock  of 
copper  gilt,  4  feet  long.  This  steeple  was  taken  down,  and  was  never 
rebuilt.  In  1561,  the  Cathedral  was  severely  injured  in  a  fire  caused 
by  the  carelessness  of  the  sexton  ;  and  it  happening  in  a  tempestuous 
day,  the  catastrophe  was  by  him  confidently  affirmed  to  be  caused  by 
lightning,  and  was  generally  believed  to  the  hour  of  his  death ;  but  he 

#  8 


2  Wonders  of  Old  Saint  PauTs. 

confessed  the  truth  of  it,  after  which  "  the  burning  of  St.  PauTs  by 
lightning"  was  left  out  of  our  common  almanacks.  In  the  crypt  below 
the  choir,  was  the  parish  church  of  St.  Faith,  and  at  the  Ludgate  corner 
(towards  the  Thames)  the  parish  church  of  St.  Gregory.  "  St.  Paul's,' 
says  Fuller,  "  may  be  called  the  mother-church,  indeed,  having  one 
babe  in  her  body  {St.  Faith),  and  another  in  her  arms  {St.  Gregory)." 
Out  of  this  arose  the  popular  story  of  there  being  a  church  under  St. 
Paul's,  and  service  in  it  once  a  year.  On  special  saints'  days  it  was 
customary  for  the  choristers  of  the  Cathedral  to  ascend  the  spire  to  a 
great  height,  and  there  to  chant  solemn  prayers  and  anthems :  the  last 
observance  of  this  custom  was  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  when,  "after 
evensong,  the  quire  of  Paul's  began  to  go  about  the  steeple  singing 
with  lightes,  after  the  old  custome."  A  similar  tenure  custom  is  observed 
to  this  day  at  Oxford,  on  Magdalen  College  tower. 

Many  and  memorable  were  the  scenes  which  occurred  within  the 
walls  of  the  old  Cathedral.  For  instance,  it  was  there  that  Wickliffe 
appeared  at  the  summons  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  the 
Bishop  of  London  to  make  answer  for  the  publication  of  his  new 
opinions;  Wickliffe  standing  before  that  clerical  tribunal  in  the  Lady 
Chapel,  accompanied  by  John  of  Gaunt  and  Lord  Percy,  and  a  host  of 
enthusiastic  and  excited  admirers. 

Dean  Milman  relates: — Henry  Bolingbroke,  not  as  yet  known  as 
King  Henry  IV.,  appeared  in  St.  Paul's  to  offer  his  prayers — prayers 
for  the  dethronement  of  his  ill-fated  cousin  ;  prayers  for  his  own 
successful  usurpation  of  the  Throne.  Here  he  paused  to  shed  tears 
over  the  grave  of  his  father ;  for  early  in  that  year  "  old  John  of  Gaunt, 
time-honoured  Lancaster,"  had  been  carrietl  to  his  rest  in  the  Cathedral, 
Perhaps  the  last  time  that  John  of  Gaunt  had  appeared  in  St.  Paul's, 
was  in  his  armour,  and  in  all  his  pride,  to  confront  the  proud  Bishop 
Courtcnay.  Some  years  elapsed ;  and,  after  the  silent  and  peaceful 
pomp  of  his  funeral,  he  had  been  laid  under  the  pavement  of  the  church. 

Hither  Richard  II.  was  brought;  but  not  to  worship  or  to  weep. 
His  dead  body,  after  the  murder  at  Pontcfract  Castle,  was  exposed  for 
three  days  in  the  Cathedral  before  it  was  interred  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
Here,  too,  the  first  martyr  of  Wickliflism,  William  Sawtree,  was  pub- 
licly degraded,  his  priestly  robi-s,  his  paten,  and  his  chasuble  being  taken 
from  him,  his  alb  and  nuniple  torn  off,  his  tonsure  wiped  out,  and  a 
layman's  cap  put  upon  his  head. 

*'  At  a  somewhat  later  period  (says  Dean  Milman),  appeared  before 
a  convocation  at  St.  Paul's  one  Richard  Walker,  chaplain  in  the  dicx-ese 
ol  Worccrtcr,  charged  with  liaving  in  hi»  possession  two  books  of 


IVojiders  of  Old  S-aint  PauVs.  3 

•images  with  conjunction  of  figures,' and  of  having  himself  practised 
tliese  diabolical  arts.  Walker  pleaded  guilty  to  both  charges.  On 
another  day  the  said  Richard  Walker  appeared  at  Paul's-cross,  and, 
after  an  exhortation  from  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff,  solemnly  abjured  all 
magic.  The  two  books  were  hung,  wide  open,  one  on  his  head,  one 
on  his  back  ;  and  with  a  fool's  cap  on  his  head,  he  was  made  to  walk 
along  Cheapside.  On  his  return  his  books  were  burnt  before  his  face, 
and  Walker  was  released  from  his  imprisonment." 

The  Day  of  St.  Paul,  the  patron  saint  of  the  city,  was  formerly  ob- 
served here  with  picturesque  ceremonies.  "  There  was  a  general  pro- 
cession with  the  children  of  all  the  schools  in  London,  with  all  the 
clerks,  curates,  and  parsons,  and  vicars,  in  copes,  with  their  crosses ; 
also  the  choir  of  St.  Paul's ;  and  divers  bishops  m  their  habits,  and  the 
Bishop  of  London,  with  his  pontificals  and  cope,  bearing  the  sacrament 
under  a  canopy,  and  four  prebends  bearing  it  in  their  gray  amoi  ;  and 
so  up  into  Leadenhall,  with  the  mayor  and  aldermen  in  scarlet,  with 
their  cloaks,  and  all  the  crafts  in  their  best  array ;  and  so  came  down 
again  on  the  other  side,  and  so  to  St.  Paul's  again.  And  then  the  King, 
with  my  Lord  Cardinal,  came  to  St  Paul's,  and  heard  masse,  and  went 
home  again  ;  and  at  night  great  bonfires  were  made  through  all  London, 
for  the  joy  of  the  people  that  were  converted  likewise  as  St.  Paul  was 
converted." 

Down  to  about  this  time  there  was  observed,  in  connexion  with 
the  Cathedral,  a  custom  arising  from  an  obligation  incurred  by  Sir 
William  Baud  in  1375,  when  he  was  permitted  to  enclose  twenty  acres 
of  the  Dean's  land,  in  consideration  of  presenting  the  clergy  of  the 
Cathedral  with  a  fat  buck  and  doe  yearly  on  the  days  of  the  Conversion 
and  Commemoration  of  St.  Paul.  "  On  these  days,  the  buck  and  the 
doe  were  brought  by  one  or  more  servants  at  the  hour  of  the  proces- 
sion, and  thmugh  the  midst  thereof,  and  offered  at  the  high  altar  of 
St.  Paul's  Cath>.dral :  after  which  the  persons  that  brought  the  buck 
recei%'ed  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  by  the  hands  of  their  Chamberlain, 
twelve  pence  sterling  for  their  entertainment ;  but  nothing  when  they 
brought  the  doe.  The  buck  being  brought  to  the  steps  of  the  altar, 
the  Dean  and  C4iapter,  apparelled  in  copes  and  proper  vestments,  with 
garlands  of  r(  ses  on  their  heads,  sent  the  body  of  the  buck  to  be  baked, 
and  had  the  he  id  and  homs  fixed  on  a  pole  before  the  cross,  in  tleir 
procession  round  about  the  church,  till  they  issued  at  the  west  door, 
where  the  keeper  that  brought  it  blowed  the  death  of  the  buck,  and 
then  the  homs  that  were  about  the  city  answered  him  in  like  manner; 
for  wh"€h  they  had  each,  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter,  three  and  four- 


4  Wonders  of  Old  Saint  PauVs. 

pence  in  money,  and  their  dinner:  and  the  keeper,  during  his  stay, 
meat,  drink,  and  lodging,  and  five  shillings  in  money  at  his  going  away; 
together  with  a  loaf  of  bread,  having  in  it  the  picture  of  St.  Paul." 

Paul's  Cross,  from  its  imposing  grandeur,  was  one  of  the  chief  oma- 
ments  of  London:  it  was  raised  on  stone  steps,  with  a  canopy,  on  which 
was  a  cross.  We  fii-st  read  of  it  in  1 259,  when  by  command  of  Henry 
HI.,  striplings  were  here  sworn  to  be  loyal;  and  in  the  same  year  the 
folkmote  Common  Hall  assembled  here  by  the  tolling  of  St.  Paul's 
great  bell.  At  preaching,  the  commonalty  sat  in  the  open  air;  the 
king,  his  trron,  and  noblemen  in  covered  galleries.  All  preachers  coming 
from  a  distance  had  an  allowance  from  the  corporation,  and  were 
lodged  during  five  days,  "  in  sweete  and  convenient  lodgings,  with  fire, 
candle,  and  necessary  food."  One  of  the  Bishops  lent  small  sums  on 
pledge ;  and  if  at  the  year's  end  the  articles  were  not  redeemed  within 
fourteen  days,  the  preacher  at  Paul's  Cross  declared  that  they  would  be 
sold.  Ralph  Bakloc,  Dean  of  Paul's,  cursed  from  the  Cross  all  persona 
who  had  searched  in  the  church  of  St.  Martin's-le-Grand  for  a 
hoard  of  gold.  In  1483,  Jane  Shore,  with  a  taper  in  one  hand,  and 
arrayed  in  her  "  kirtle  onlye,"  did  open  penance  at  the  Cross;  and  in 
the  same  year  Dr.  Shaw  and  Prior  Dinke  aided  the  traitorous  schemes 
of  Duke  Richard:  the  Doctor  so  repented  his  shameful  sermon,  that  it 
struck  him  to  the  heart,  and  within  a  few  days  he  "  withered  and  con- 
sumed away."  The  Friar  lost  his  voice  whilst  preaching,  and  was 
forced  to  leave  the  pulpit. 

The  interior  walls  of  the  church  were  sumptuously  adorned  with 
pictures,  shrines,  and  curiously  wrought  tabernacles ;  gold  and  silver, 
rubies,  emeralds,  and  pearls,  glittered  in  splendid  profusion  ;  and  upon 
the  high  altar  were  heaped  countless  stores  of  gold  and  silver  plate,  and 
illuminated  missals.  The  shrine  of  St.  Erkenwald  had  among  its  jewels 
a  sapphire  believed  to  cure  diseases  of  the  eye.  The  mere  enumeration 
of  these  treasures  fills  twenty-eight  pages  of  Dugdale's  folio  History  of 
the  Cathedral.  King  John  of  France  ottered  at  St.  Erkenwald's  shrine; 
King  Henry  III.,  on  the  feast  of  St.  Paul's  Conversion,  gave  1500  tapers 
to  the  church,  and  fed  15.000  poor  in  the  c.uth  or  close. 

Miracles  were  wrought  at  Paul's  at  "a  tablet,"  or  picture,  set  up  by 
Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  who,  after  his  execution  at  Pontcfract,  was 
reckoned  a  martyr  by  the  populace.  At  the  base  of  one  of  the  pillars 
was  w.ulpturcd  the  foot  of  Algar  (the  first  prebendary  of  Islington),  as 
the  standard  measure  for  legal  contracts  in  land ;  just  as  Henry  I., 
Richard  I.,  and  John,  fumishcd  the  iron  ell  by  their  arms.  On  the 
north  bide  of  the  choir  stood  the  stately  tomb  of  John  of  Gaunt,  and 


Wonders  ef  Old  Saint  PauVs.  5 

Blanche  his  first  wife;  on  it  hung  his  proper  helmet  and  spear,  and  hit 
target  covered  with  horn.  In  St.  Dunstan's  Chapel  was  the  fine  old 
tomb  of  Henry  Lacy,  Earl  of  Lincoln,  from  whom  Lincoln's  Inn  de- 
rives its  name.  In  the  middle  aisle  of  the  nave  stood  the  tomb  of  Sir 
John  Beaiichamp,  constable  of  Dover  Castle.  Between  the  choir  and 
south  aisle  was  a  noble  monument  to  Sir  Nicholas  Bacon,  father  of 
Lord  Chancellor  Bacon ;  "  higher  than  the  fost  and  altar,"  between 
tovo  columns  of  the  choir,  was  the  sumptuous  monument  of  Sir 
Christopher  Hatton ;  and  near  it,  a  tablet  to  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  and 
another   to   his   father-in-law,  Sir   Francis  Walsingham:   hence  tJie 

epigram:— 

"  Philip  and  Francis  have  no  tomb, 
For  great  bir  Christopher  takes  all  the  room." 

Amongst  the  monuments  preserved  fi-om  the  fonner  Cathedral  is  Dr. 
Donne,  the  poet  of  quaint  conceits,  standing  in  his  stony  shroud. 

The  floor  of  the  church  was  laid  out  in  walks :  "  the  south  alley  for 
usurye  and  poperye;  the  north  for  simony  and  the  horse-fair;  in  the 
midst  for  all  kinds  of  bargains,  meetings,  brawlings,  murthers,  conspira- 
cies, &c."  The  middle  aisle  was  called  Paul's  Walk,  and  was  a  lounge 
for  idlers  and  hunters  after  news,  wits  and  gallants,  cheats,  usurers,  and 
knights  of  the  post;  \hfifont  itself  being  used  as  a  counter.  Ben  Jonson 
h;is  laid  a  scene  of  his  Every  Mun  out  of  hh  Humour  in  "  the  middle 
aisle  of  Paule's;"  Captain  Bobadil  is  a  "Paul's  man;"  and  FalstafF 
bought  Bardolph  in  Paul's.  Bishop  Earle,  1629,  says:  "  Paul's  Walke  is 
the  Land's  Epitome,  or  you  may  cal  it  the  lesser  He  of  Great  Brittaine. 
*  *  *  The  noyse  in  it  is  like  that  of  Bees,  in  strange  hummings  or 
buzze,  mixt  of  walking,  tongues,  and  feet ;  it  is  a  kind  of  still  roare,  or 
loud  whisper."  It  was  a  common  thoroughfare  for  porters  and  carriers, 
for  ale,  beer,  bread,  fish,  flesh,  fardels  of  stuff,  and  mules,  horses,  and 
other  beasts;  drunkards  lay  sleeping  on  the  benches  at  the  choir-door; 
within,  dunghills  were  suffered  to  accumulate;  and  in  the  choir  people 
walked  "  with  their  halts  on  their  heddes."  Dekker,  in  his  Gull's  Horti' 
book,  tells  us  that  the  church  was  profaned  by  shops,  not  only  of  book- 
sellers, but  of  other  trades,  such  as  "  the  semsters'  shops,"  and  "  the  new 
tobacco  office."  He  also  mentions  "  Paul's  Jac'ss,"  automaton  figures 
"which  struck  the  quarters  on  the  clock.  The  first  recorded  lottery  in 
England  was  drawn  at  the  west  door  of  the  church,  in  1569. 

The  desecration  of  the  exterior  of  the  church  was  more  abominable. 
The  chantry  and  other  chapels  were  usd  for  stones  and  lumber,  as  a 
school  and  a  glazier's  workshop;  parts  of  the  vaults  were  occupied  by  a 
cai-penter,  and  as  a  wine-cellar  j  and  the  cloisters  were  let  out  to  trunk- 


6  Wcndcrs  of  Old  Saint  PauVs. 

makers,  whose  "  knocking  and  noyse"  greatly  disturbed  the  church- 
service.  Houses  were  built  against  the  outer  walls,  in  which  closets 
and  window-ways  were  made:  one  was  used  as  a  play-house,  and 
in  another  the  owner  baked  his  bread  and  pies  in  an  oven  ex- 
cavated within  a  buttress;  for  a  trifling  fee,  the  bell-ringers  allowed 
wights  to  ascend  the  tower,  halloo,  and  throw  stones  at  the  passengers 
beneath. 

We  read,  too,  of  rope-dancing  feats  from  the  battlements  of  St. 
Paul's  exhibited  before  Edward  VI.,  and  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary, 
who,  the  day  before  her  coronation,  witnessed  a  Dutchman  standing 
upon  the  weathercock  of  the  steeple,  waving  a  five- yard  streamer  ! 

()ld  St.  Paul's  was  famous  (many  of  the  old  churches  on  the  Con- 
tinent were  the  same)  for  a  "  Dance  of  Death,"  executed  at  the  expense 
of  John  Carpenter,  town-clerk  of  London  in  the  reign  of  Henry  V.: 
it  was  appropriately  placed  in  a  cloister  adjoining  a  charnel-house. 
Stow  describes  it  as  "  a  monument  of  Death  leading  all  Estates,  curiously 
painted  upon  board,  with  the  speeches  of  Death  and  answer  of  every 
Estate;" — a  suggestive  picture  for  the  contemplation  of  mortals. 

There  is  an  incident  connected  with  old  St.  Paul's,  remarkable  in  it- 
self, but  made  still  more  so  by  the  many  celebrated  writers  who  allude 
to  it.  In  the  year  1600,  "a  middle-sized  bay  English  gelding,"  the 
property  of  Bankes,  a  servant  to  the  Earl  of  Essex,  and  a  vintner  in 
Cheapside,  ascended  to  the  top  of  St.  Paul's,  to  the  delight,  it  is  said 
by  Dekker,  of  "  a  number  of  asses,"  who  brayed  below.  Bankes  had 
taught  his  horse,  which  went  by  the  name  of  Marocco,  to  count,  and 
perform  a  variety  of  feats.  "  Certainly,"  says  Sir  "Walter  Raleigh,  in 
his  History,  "if  liankcs  had  lived  in  elder  times,  he  would  have 
tliamed  all  the  enchanters  of  the  world ;  for  whosoever  was  most 
famous  among  them  could  never  master  or  instruct  any  beast  as  he  did 
his  horse."  When  the  novelty  had  somewhat  lessened  in  London, 
Bankes  took  his  wonderful  horse  first  to  Paris,  and  afterwards  to  Rome. 
He  had  better  iiave  stayed  at  home,  for  both  he  and  his  horse  (which 
was  shod  with  silver),  were  burnt  for  witchcraft.  Siiakspeare  alludes 
to  "tiie  dancing  horse;"  and  in  a  tract,  159,').  there  is  a  rude  woodcut 
of  the  unfortunate  juggler  and  his  famous  gelding. 

The  Cathedral  was  entirely  destroyed  in  the  Great  Fire.  The  lead 
over  the  altar  at  the  cast  end  was  untouched,  and  among  the  monu- 
ments the  body  of  one  bishop  remained  entire.  This  was  the  corjise  of 
Bibliop  Braybrookc,  which  had  been  inhumed  260  years,  being  "so  dried 
up,  the  flcbh,  sinews,  and  skin  cleaving  fast  to  the  hones,  that  being  set 
upon  the  feet  it  stood  as  b'JIl  as  a  plank,  the  skin  bein^  tough  like  lea 


Tlie  Building  of  Westminster  A  bhty.  7 

thcr,  and  not  at  all  inclined  to  putrefaction,  which  some  attributed  to 
the  sanctity  of  the  person  offering  much  money T 

Burnet  remarks  that  he  never  heard  of  any  person  being  bunit  or 
trodden  to  death  at  the  Fire;  but,  in  the  Diary  of  Taswell,  is  recorded 
this  singular  testimony  to  the  contrary  : — 

"  '  I  forgot  to  mention  that  near  the  east  end  of  S.  Paul's  (he  must 
have  got  quite  round  the  church),  a  human  body  presented  itself  to  me, 
parched  up  as  it  were  with  tlie  llames,  white  as  to  skin,  meagre  as  to 
flesh,  yellow  as  to  colour.  This  was  an  old  decrepit  woman  who  fled 
here  for  safety,  imagining  the  flames  would  not  have  reached  her 
there;  her  clothes  were  burned,  and  every  limb  reduced  to  a  coal.  In 
my  way  home  I  saw  several  engines  which  were  bringing  up  to  its 
assistance,  all  on  fire,  and  those  engaged  with  them  escaping  with  all 
eagerness  from  the  flames,  which  spread  instantaneous  almost  like  a 
wildfire,  and  at  last,  accoutred  zuith  my  sivord  and  Ixlmet,  I  traversed 
the  ton-id  zone  back  again.'  Taswell  relates  that  the  papers  from  the 
books  in  S.  Faith's  were  carried  with  the  wind  as  tar  as  Eton.  The 
Oxonians  observed  the  rays  of  the  sun  tinged  with  an  unusual  kind  of 
redness,  a  black  darkness  seemed  to  cover  the  whole  hemisphere.  To 
impress  this  more  deeply  on  Taswell's  memory,  his  father's  house  was 
burned  and  plundered,  by  officious  persons  offering  to  aid,  of  40/." 


The  Building  of  Westminster  Abbey. 

Westminster  Monastery  and  Palace  were  foundations  ot  great  antiquity 
and  interest,  scai-cely  exceeded  by  that  of  the  Tower,  with  its  chronicle 
of  our  history  in  stone. 

Westminster  was  originally  called  Thomey  Island,  from  its  having 
been  "  overgrown  with  thorns,  and  environed  with  water,"  substantiated 
by  a  charter  granted  in  785,  by  Offa,  the  Mercian  king;  but  it  is  really  a 
peninsula  of  the  purest  sand  and  gravel,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  foundations 
of  the  Abbey.  This  edifice  has  not  a  basement  story,  like  St.  Paul's,  but 
is  built  upon  the  fine  close  sand,  secured  only  by  its  very  broad,  wide, 
and  spreading  foundations.  Sebert,  King  of  the  East  Saxons,  having  em- 
braced Christianity,  and  being  baptized  by  Mellitus,  bishop  of  London, 
pulled  down  a  Pagan  temple  at  Thomey,  and  founded  upon  the  p  ace  a 
church  to  the  honour  of  St.  Peter,  sometime  previously  to  the  year  616. 
It  suffered  much  spoliation  by  the  Danes,  but  was  restored  by  King 
Edgar,  at  the  intercession  of  Dunstan,  who  brought  hither  twelve  monki 
of  tlie  Benedictine  Order  ypiobably  from  Glastonbury),  to  whoiv.  bot2» 


8  The  Building  of  Westminster  Abbey. 

Punstan  and  the  King  made  grants  of  landed  property,  as  well  as  rich 
presents  in  gold.  The  dedication  of  the  church  to  St.  Peter  (the  tutelar 
saint  of  fishermen),  led  to  their  offerings  of  salmon  upon  the  high  altar; 
the  donor  on  such  occasions  having  the  privilege  of  sitting  at  the  convent 
table  to  dinner,  and  demanding  ale  and  bread  from  the  cellarer. 

Canute,  in  the  year  1017,  took  the  monastery  under  his  special  care, 
"  it  being  so  near  the  king's  palace,"  which  is  somewhat  corroborated 
by  Norden,  who  states  that  "  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  a 
palace  at  Westminster  was  destroyed  by  fire,  which  had  been  inhabited 
by  Canute,  about  the  year  1035;  and  there  occurs  in  King  Edward's 
third  charter  to  the  Abbey,  granted  in  1065: — "The  place  where  the 
said  church  and  monastery  were  built  was  anciently  the  seat  of  kings  ;" 
and  "  we  grant  that,  hereafter,  for  ever,  it  be  the  place  of  the  king's 
constitution  and  consecration,  the  repository  of  the  imperial  regalia,  and 
a  perpetual  habitation  of  monks,"  &c.  But  this  charter  is  of  dubious 
authority ;  and  it  is  otherwise  doubted  whether  there  was  a  rofal  palace 
at  Westminster  before  the  reign  of  the  Confessor  himself.  Edric 
Streon,  through  whose  repeated  treachery  to  the  Saxon  cause  Canute 
was  alone  beholden  for  dominion  in  England,  was,  as  though  in  retribu- 
tion for  his  crimes,  beheaded,  by  command  of  the  monarch  he  had 
served,  within  the  royal  palace  in  London,  and  his  body  w^sjiiaig  out  of  a 
<ivindow  into  the  Thames,  an  event  which  could  scarcely  have  occuiTed 
at  Westminster. 

The  earliest  document  fi"om  which  the  existence  of  a  palace  at  this 
spot  may  be  inferred  is  a  charter  given  by  Edward  the  Confessor,  to 
the  Abbey  of  Ramsey,  in  1052.  King  Edward  was  now  proceeding 
with  his  reconstruction  of  St.  Peter's  Cliurch  and  Monastery  at  West- 
minster; and  it  may  reasonably  be  surmised  that  he  himself  erected  a 
palace  there,  to  forward  the  splendid  work  by  his  own  presence,  as  well 
as  by  "  a  tenth  of  his  entire  substance  in  gold,  silver,  cattle,  and  all  other 
pc^sessions."  Compared  with  the  former  edifice,  it  was  a  very  magni- 
ficent fabric.  King  Edward  gave  to  its  treasury  rich  vestments,  a  golden 
crown  and  sceptre,  a  dalmatic,  embroidered  pall,  spurs,  &c.,  to  be  used 
on  the  day  of  the  sovereign's  coronation :  here  our  kings  and  queens 
have  been  crowned  from  Edward  the  Confessor  to  Queen  Victoria,  and 
here  very  many  of  them  arc  buried,  some  with  and  others  without  monu- 
ments. 1'he  Confessor  lived  just  long  enough  to  see  his  intention  ful- 
filled. On  the  Festival  of  the  Holy  Innocents,  Dec.  28,  lofir,,  the  new 
Abbey  was  dedicated;  and  the  King,  who  died  eiglit  days  aftenvards, 
was  buried  by  his  own  desire  in  front  of  the  high  altar  in  the  church  of 
whidi  he  had  just  witnessed  the  completion. 


'ihe  Building  of  Westminster  Abbey.  9 

Our  early  chroniclers  have  assigned  the  occun'ence  of  several  of  King 
Edward's  recorded  visions  to  this  spot.  Those  of  the  drowning  of  a 
Danish  king  who  had  undertaken  to  invade  England;  of  the  Seven 
Sleepers  of  Ephesus ;  and  finally,  of  the  grievous  afHictions  which  his 
country  would  undergo  after  his  own  decease,  were  of  this  number; 
and  tradition  has  even  identified  the  chamber  where  he  died,  as  that 
which  after  generations  called  the  Painted  Chambet.  The  monkish  his- 
torians attribute  numerous  miracles  to  his  sanctity.  He  was  so  much 
in  love,  they  tell  us,  with  retirement  and  devotional  reflection,  that  being 
once  disturbed  at  a  country-seat  by  the  singing  of  nightingales,  he 
prayed  that  they  might  no  more  be  heard  in  that  place;  which  petition, 
continues  the  legend,  was  granted  accordingly.  Even  the  time  of  his 
death  was  made  known  to  him  by  the  delivery  of  a  ring  and  message 
from  St.  John  the  Evangelist ;  and  within  six  years  after  his  decease,  the 
following  miracle  was  performed  at  his  tomb  : 

In  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror,  when  all  English  prelates 
were  "  sifted  to  the  branne,"  a  synod  was  held  in  the  church  at  West- 
minster, by  Archbishop  Lanfranc  (anno  1074),  to  examine  avowedly 
into  the  qualifications  and  conduct  of  the  clergy,  *'  yet  with  the  covert 
design  of  making  room  for  the  new-come  Normans,"  by  ejecting  such  of 
the  bishops  and  abbots  as  had  but  little  learning  and  influence.  At  this 
synod,  Wulstan,  Bishop  of  Worcester,  was  charged  with  being  "  a 
most  illiterate  and  foolish  man,  and  unfit  for  the  station  he  held ;  a  very 
idiot,  unacquainted  with  the  French  language,  and  incapable  either  to 
instruct  the  church,  or  counsel  the  king."  His  pastoral  staff  and  ring 
were,  therefore,  demanded  of  him  by  Lanfranc,  in  the  King's  name;  but 
Wulstan,  grasping  his  staff  with  an  unmoved  countenance,  made  this 
reply:  "  I  know,  my  lord  archbishop,  that  I  am  entirely  unfit  for,  and 
unworthy  so  high  a  station,  being  inideserving  of  the  honour,  and  un- 
equal to  the  task;  however,  I  think  it  unreasonable  that  you  should 
demand  that  staff  which  I  never  received  from  you,  yet  in  some  measure 
I  submit  to  your  sentence,  and  will  resign  it ;  but  consider  it  just  to 
make  that  resignation  to  King  Edward,  who  conferred  it  on  me." 
Then  ending,  he  left  the  synod,  and  crossing  the  church  to  Edward's 
tomb,  said,  whilst  standing  before  it,  "  Thou  knowest,  O  holy  king  . 
how  unwillingly  I  undertook  this  office,  and  even  by  force,  for  neithe  r 
the  desire  of  the  prelates,  the  petition  of  the  monks,  nor  the  voice  of  the 
nobility  prevailed,  till  your  commands  obliged  me;  but  see,  a  new  king, 
new  laws ;  a  new  bishop  pronounces  a  new  sentence.  Thee  they  accuse 
of  a  fault  for  making  me  a  bishop,  and  me  of  assurance  for  accepting 
the  charge."    Then  raising  his  ami,  he  placed  the  staff  upon  the  tomb, 


10  The  Building  of  Westminster  Ahhey. 

which  was  of  stone,  and  leaving  it,  went  arrayed  as  a  monk,  and  sat 
with  them  in  the  chapter-house.  When  this  became  known  in  the 
synod,  a  messenger  was  sent  for  the  staff,  but  he  found  it  adhere  so 
firmly  to  the  stone  that  it  could  by  no  means  be  removed;  nor  could 
either  the  king  or  the  archbishop  himself  disengage  it  from  the  tomb. 
Wu'stan  was  then  sent  for,  and  the  staff  readily  submitted  to  his  touch ; 
which  being  considered  as  a  consummation  of  the  miracle,  he  was 
allowed  to  retain  his  episcopal  dignity.  Such  implicit  credence  was 
given  to  this  story,  that,  according  to  the  annals  of  Burton  Abbey, 
King  John  urged  it  to  Pandulph,  the  pope's  legate,  as  a  proof  of  the 
right  of  the  English  kings  to  nominate  a  bishop. 

To  return  to  the  obsequies  of  the  Confessor: — "Our  kings  in  the 
castle  of  Windsor  (says  Palgrave),  live  on  the  brink  of  the  grave,  which 
opens  to  receive  them.  The  throne  of  Edward  was  equally  by  the  side 
of  his  sepulchre,  for  he  dwelt  in  the  palace  of  Westminster ;  and  on  the 
festival  of  the  Epiphany,  the  day  after  his  decease,  his  obsequies  were 
solemnized  in  the  adjoining  abbey,  then  connected  with  the  royal  abode 
by  walls  and  towers,  the  foundations  whereof  are  still  existing. 
Beneath  the  lofty  windows  of  the  southern  transept  of  the  Abbey,  you 
may  see  the  deep  and  blackened  arches,  fragments  of  the  edifice  raised 
by  Edward,  supporting  the  chaste  and  florid  tracery  of  a  more  recent 
age.  Within  stands  the  shrine,  once  rich  in  gems  and  gold,  raised  to 
the  memory  of  the  Confessor  by  the  fond  devotion  of  his  successors, 
despoiled,  indeed,  of  all  its  ornaments,  neglected  and  cnimbling  to  ruin, 
but  still  surmounted  by  the  massive  iron-bound  oaken  coffin  which 
contains  the  ashes  of  the  last  legitimate  Anglo-Saxon  king." 

After  the  decisive  victory  at  Hastings  over  the  brave  but  unfortunate 
Harold,  William  the  Norman,  on  his  arrival  near  London,  made  it  one 
of  his  first  cares  to  give  thanks  for  his  success  at  King  Edward's  tomb 
at  Westminster;  and  as  it  would  seem,  in  a  passage  in  William  of 
Malmcsbury,  the  "  better  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  English,"  by 
displaying  a  veneration  for  the  Confessor's  memory,  he  fixed  on  the 
new  church  for  the  scene  of  his  own  coronation;  accordingly,  on  the 
Christmas-day  following,  he  was  crowned  by  the  side  of  Edward's  tomb. 
At  a  subsequent  period  he  caused  the  remains  of  his  predecessor  to  be 
re-interred,  with  "  a  curious  and  more  costly  tomb  of  stone." 

The  Feast  of  Edward  the  Confessor  was  yearly  observctl  with  great 
ceremony  in  the  Abbey.  Matthew  Paris  describes  that  of  the  year 
1247,  when  Henry  III.  walked  from  St.  Paul's  to  Westminster  Abbey, 
carrying  as  an  offering  a  little  vase,  containing  a  portion  of  the  alleged 
blood  of  Christ.     Matthew,  in  his  Chronicle,  ijives  a  drawing  of  the 


Tlie  Btdtding  of  Westminster  Abbey.  Ii 

Tcsser.  The  Bishop  of  Norwich  preached  on  the  occasion,  when  some 
ol  the  clergy  went  so  far  as  to  express  some  doubt  as  to  the  genuineness  of 
the  rdique ;  and  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  undertaking  to  convince  them, 
his  discourse  was  noted  down  at  the  time.  The  scene  in  the  abbey 
must  have  been  very  impressive :  the  King  was  seated  on  his  throne, 
attired  in  his  royal  robes,  and  recognising  Paris,  caused  him  to  sit  on 
the  middle  step,  between  the  throne  and  the  floor,  and  expressly  directed 
him  to  write  an  account  of  the  proceedings.  This,  it  is  added,  Paris  did 
6o  well  that  the  king  invited  him  to  dinner. 

The  Abbey,  as  it  now  exists,  was  for  the  most  part  rebuilt  by  Henry  III., 
m  veneration  of  the  memory  of  the  pious  Confessor.  "  The  Abbey 
Church,"  says  Mr.  Bardwell,  the  architect,  *'  formerly  arose  a  mag- 
nificent apex  to  a  royal  palace,  surrounded  by  its  own  greater  and  lesser 
sanctuaries  and  almonries:  its  bell-towers  (the  principal  one  72  feet 
6  inches  square,  with  walls  20  feet  thick),  chapels,  prisons,  gatehouses, 
boundary-walls,  and  a  train  of  other  buildings,  of  which  we  can  at  the 
present  day  scarcely  form  an  idea.  In  addition  to  all  the  land  around 
it,  extending  from  the  Thames  to  Oxford-street,  and  from  Vauxhall- 
bridge-road  to  the  church  of  St.  Mary-le-Strand,  the  Abbey  possessed 
97  towns  and  villages,  17  hamlets,  and  216  manors!  Its  officers  fed 
hundreds  of  persons  daily ;  and  one  of  its  priests  (not  the  Abbot)  enter- 
tained at  his  '  pavilion  in  Tothill'  the  King  and  Queen,  with  so  large  a 
party,  that  seven  hundred  dishes  did  not  suflice  for  the  first  table ;  the 
Abbey  butler,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  rebuilt  at  his  own  private 
expense  the  stately  gatehouse  which  gave  entrance  to  Tothill-street." 

It  has  lately  been  brought  to  light  that  the  nave  of  the  Abbey  was  re- 
built in  1 4 13  by  Richard  Whittington  and  Richard  Harrowden  (a  monk 
of  the  Abbey),  to  whom  Henry  V.  issued  a  commission  for  the  purpose. 
Now,  it  has  been  plausibly  argued  by  Lysons,  in  his  Memoir  of  Lord 
Mayor  Whittington,  that  this  personage  was  the  very  man  named  in 
the  Royal  Commission. 

As  the  place  of  sepulture  of  our  sovereigns,  the  Abbey  is  of  para- 
mount interest: — "  The  Chapel  of  the  Kings  (says  an  able  critic),  had 
been  nearly  filled  before  the  accession  of  the  House  of  Tudor. 
Henry  VII. — partly,  perhaps,  to  do  honour  to  the  holy  shade  of 
Henry  VI.,  partly  to  mark  the  beginning  of  a  new  Royal  line — deter- 
mined to  add  a  mausoleum  to  Westminster  not  unworthy  of  the 
Majesty  of  England.  The  beautiful  chapel  called  by  his  name  dates 
from  the  first  year  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and  dull,  indeed,  the  spirit 
must  be  which  the  scene  does  not  waken  to  keen  sympathy.  The 
tombs  and  monuments  within  its  precincts  not  only  tell  the  ordinary 


12  The  Building  of  Westminster  Abbey. 

tale  c>f  the  instability  of  human  grandeur,  but  mark  strikingly  the 
strange  vicissitudes  and  revolutions  of  our  English  history.  The  devices 
on  Henry's  monument  record  the  day  of  Bosvvorth  and  his  right  ot 
conquest ;  but  they  are  prophetic  of  the  union  of  these  islands  under 
Princes  in  whom  the  Celtic  blood  flowed  mingled  with  that  of  Norman 
and  Saxon.  Henry  VIII.  rests  with  Jane  Seymour  at  Windsor,  far 
from  the  spot  where  he  wedded  Catherine,  in  nuptials  accursed,  as  he 
thought,  by  Heaven ;  or  where  their  doomed  and  immature  fruit  lies 
unhonoured  by  memorial  or  epitaph.  But  his  three  children  who 
attained  the  Crown  were  buried  in  their  grandfather's  chapel; 
Edward  VI.  without  a  royal  monument;  Mary  and  Elizabeth,  made 
foes  in  life  by  a  schism  that  rent  the  ties  of  kindred,  and  divided  Europe 
into  hostile  camps,  but  in  death  mingled  in  a  common  sepulchre.  Here, 
too,  borne  from  that  tragic  spot  where  a  tardy  justice  overtook  her 
crimes,  lies  the  siren  schemer  of  that  stirring  age,  Mary  Stuart,  in  the 
reconciliation  of  the  grave  placed  in  honour  among  the  chiefs  of  a 
nation  whose  high  destinies  she  would  have  frustrated  had  her  power 
equalled  her  will  and  ambition.  James  I.  and  Anne  of  Denmark  are 
near;  and  here,  too,  for  a  brief  space — until  the  frenzy  of  the  Restora- 
tion did  cruel  and  idle  violence  to  the  dead — were  laid  several  of  the 
great  men  of  the  Commonwealth,  among  whom  Blake  and  Ireton  were 
conspicuous,  encircling  the  tomb  of  the  mighty  Protector.  Charles  II. 
rests  unhonoured  in  the  chapel ;  his  brother  found  a  grave  in  his  place 
of  exile ;  but  Anne  and  Mary  rejoined  their  ancestoi-s,  and  were  laid 
there,  by  William  III.,  strange  to  say,  without  a  befitting  monument. 
The  first  King  of  the  House  of  Hanover  sleeps  far  from  the  England  he 
never  loved  ;  George  II.,  however,  and  Queen  Caroline,  with  many  of 
their  progeny,  claiming  justly  a  burial-place  among  our  native  kings,  fill 
a  large  space  in  the  centre  of  the  chapel.  With  theirs  ends  the  line  of 
the  Royal  tombs,  George  III.  having  shown  a  preference  for  Windsor, 
since  followed  by  his  immediate  successoi-s.  'Ihe  chapel,  however,  of 
Henry  VII.,  like  that  in  a  certain  degree  of  the  Kings,  covers  other  dust 
beside  that  of  royalty.  Passing  by  the  near  relations  of  the  Tudors,  of 
the  houses  of  Richmond,  Suflolk,  and  Lennox,  we  see  there  the  graves 
of  Stuart  favourites ;  of  the  great  chiefs  of  the  Restoration ;  of  statesmen 
of  Anne  and  George  I.,  among  whom  friendship  has  placed  Addison, 
as  if  to  show  that  even  in  that  place,  where  man  strives  to  prevent  the 
ctjuality  of  death,  the  Monarchsof  England  are  not  separated  by  any  im- 
passable line  from  their  subjects,  I'here,  too,  tossed  by  the  storm  of  a  re- 
volution that  should  leach  a  tremendous  lesson  to  kings,  rests  one  of  the 
Princes  uf  thelluubc  uf  Orleans,  a  Royal  exile  in  his  last  Enj^lish  asylutu." 


n 


A  Legend  of  Kilburn  Prioiy, 

••A  little  lowly  Hermitage  it  was, 

Downe  in  a  dale,  hard  by  a  forest's  side  J 
Far  from  resort  of  people  that  did  pass 

In  traveiU  to  and  fro  ;  a  little  wydc 

There  was  an  holy  chapelle  edifyde, 
W/ierein  the  Hermite  dewly  wont  to  say 

His  holy  things,  each  niome  and  eventyde; 
Thereby  a  christall  streame  did  gently  play, 
Which  from  a  sacred  fountaine  welled  forth  alway.** 

Sptnur, 

Kilburn,  a  hamlet  of  Hampstead,  famed  for  its  fine  spring  of  mineral 
water,  lies  about  two  miles  from  London,  north-westward,  on  the 
Edgware-road.  It  derived  its  origin  from  a  hermit,  named  Godwyn, 
who,  retiring  hither  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  for  the  purpose  of  seclusion, 
built  a  cell  near  a  little  rivulet,  called  Kilbourne,  or  Kilburn,  on  a  site 
surrounded  with  wood.  Whether  Godwyn  grew  weary  of  his  solitude, 
or  from  whatever  cause,  between  the  years  1138  and  11 34  he  granted 
his  hermitage,  with  the  adjoining  lands,  to  the  conventual  church  of 
St.  Peter,  Westminster,  "  as  an  alms  for  the  redemption  of  the  whole 
convent  of  Brethren,"  under  the  same  conditions  and  privileges  which 
King  Ethehed  had  granted  Hamstede  to  the  same  church. 

Almost  immediately  after  this  grant  the  abbot,  with  the  prior,  and 
the  whole  convent  of  Westminster,  at  Godwyn's  request,  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  assigned  the  hermitage  and  its  lands 
to  three  Virgins,  by  name  Emma,  Griselda,  and  Christina,  who  were 
maids  of  honour  to  Matilda,  or  Maude,  the  queen  of  Henry  L  Queen 
Maude  was  herself  a  Benedictine  nun  ;  and  it  was,  probably,  to  obtain 
her  favour,  that  the  cell  of  the  anchorite  was  converted  into  a  nunnery. 
It  is  recorded  of  this  princess,  that  every  day  in  Lent  she  went  bare- 
footed and  bare-legged,  wearing  a  garment  of  hair,  to  pay  her  devotion* 
in  Westminster  Abbey ;  and  that  she  would,  during  that  season,  wash 
and  kiss  the  feet  of  the  poorest  of  her  subjects.  The  hermit,  Godwyn, 
was  appointed  master  of  the  Nunnery,  and  guardian  of  the  maidens,  as 
long  as  he  should  live ;  and  after  his  death  the  nuns  w^re  to  elect  his 
successor.  Abbot  Herbert  granted  the  nuns  an  estate  held  of  the  manor 
of  Knightsbridge  (which  still  belongs  to  Westminster),  in  the  place 
called  Gara,  probably  Kensington  Gore.  In  return  for  vaiious  gifts, 
the  vestals  were  enjoined  to  pray  for  the  repose  of  the  soul  of  St. 
Edward  the  Confessor,  and  the  souls  of  the  abbots  and  brethren  of  the 
«liurdi  at  Westminster-     In  1536  the  Nunnery  was  surrendered  to  the 


14  A  Legend  of  Kilburn  Priory, 

Commissioners ;  the  inventory  corrects  some  erroneous  notions  respect- 
ing the  state  of  our  English  bedding  in  Henry  the  Eighth's  reign:  there 
was  not  such  a  difference  between  the  chamber  furniture  of  those  days 
and  our  own  time  as  is  generally  supposed.  The  site  of  the  dissolved 
Priory  was  then  assigned  to  the  Prior  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusalem,  in  exchange  for  Paris  Garden,  in  Suirey ;  which  proprietor- 
ship continued  until  the  year  1773.  The  Abbey  Farm  at  Klibum, 
and  Priory  site  still  belong  to  the  March  family,  who  were  seated  at 
Hendon  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.  The  conventual  buildings  have 
long  been  destroyed.  Several  relics,  including  pieces  of  pottery,  a  few 
coins,  and  a  bronze  vessel,  all  mediaeval,  were  found  on  the  Priory  site 
in  1852. 

There  is  a  curious  traditionary  legend  connected  with  Kilbum  Priory, 
which  states  that  at  Saint  John's-wood,  not  far  distant,  there  was  for- 
merly a  stone  of  a  dark-red  colour,  which  was  the  stain  of  the  blood  of 
Sir  Gervase  de  Mertoun,  which  flowed  upon  it  a  few  centuries  ago. 
Stephen  de  Mertoun,  being  enamoured  of  his  brother's  wife,  fre- 
quently insulted  her  by  the  avowal  of  his  passion,  which  she,  at 
length,  threatened  to  make  known  to  Sir  Gervase;  to  prevent  which, 
Stephen  resolved  to  waylay  his  brother,  and  slay  him.  This  he  effected 
by  seizing  him  in  a  narrow  lane,  and  stabbing  him  in  the  back, 
whereupon  he  fell  upon  a  projecting  rock,  which  became  dyed  with 
/lis  blood.  In  his  expiring  moments  Sir  Gei^vase,  recognising  his 
brother,  upbraided  him  with  his  cruelty,  adding,  "  This  stone  shall  be 
thy  death-bed." 

Stephen  returned  to  Kilbum,  and  his  brothers  lady  still  refusing  to 
listen  to  his  criminal  proposals,  he  confined  her  in  a  dungeon,  and  strove 
to  forget  his  many  crimes  by  a  dissolute  enjoyment  of  his  wealth  and 
power.  Oppressed,  however,  by  his  troubled  conscience,  he  determined 
upon  submitting  to  religious  penance;  and,  ordering  his  brother's 
remains  to  be  removed  to  Kiiburn,  he  gave  directions  for  their  re-inter- 
ment in  a  handsome  mausoleum,  erected  with  stone  brought  from  the 
<iuarry  where  the  murder  was  committed.  The  identical  stone  on 
which  his  murdered  brother  had  expired  formed  a  part  of  the  tomb; 
and  the  eye  of  the  murderer  resting  upon  it,  the  legontl  adds,  blood  <was 
seen  to  issue  from  it  I  Struck  with  horror,  the  murderer  hastened  to 
the  Bishop  of  London,  and,  making  confession  of  his  guilt,  demised 
his  property  to  the  Priory  of  Kiiburn.  Having  thus  acted  in  atone- 
ment for  his  misdeeds,  grief  and  remorse  quickly  consij^ned  him  to 
the  grave* 


15 


The  Tower,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison,  and  iU 
Memories. 

It  has  long  been  customary  to  carry  the  antiquity  of  this  celebrated 
fortress,  by  tradition,  centuries  earlier  than  our  records,  and  ascribe  its 
origin  to  Julius  Caesar.  Shakspeare  has  adopted  this  version,  but  in 
Richard  III.  only  gives  us  Buckingham's  assurance  that  it  is  founded 
• '  upon  record ;"  and  Gray  has  embellished  the  idea  of  this  antiquity : 

"Ye  towers  of  Julius,  London's  lasting  shame. 
With  many  a  foul  and  midnight  murder  fed." 

May  it  not  be  what  architects  term  a  "  J  ulius  Tower." 
The  tradition  that  the  site  of  the  Tower  was  anciently  a  Roman  strong- 
hold is,  however,  capable  of  explanation.  We  find  a  similar  tradition  in 
connexion  with  the  keeps  of  Kenilworth  and  some  others  of  Nonnar 
date ;  but  in  connexion  with  the  Tower  of  London  there  is  no  visible 
evidence  of  Roman  construction.  Near  the  basement,  where  some 
alterations  have  been  made,  there  seems  to  be  a  mixture  of  Roman 
tiles  and  bricks ;  and  the  same  may  be  seen  near  the  base  of  some  of 
the  other  towers  which  defend  the  inner  ward.  These,  however,  may 
have  been  brought  from  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  city,  which  stretched 
westward ;  for  we  are  not  aware  that  any  Roman  remains  exist  which 
indicate  that  buildings  of  importance  were  here  during  the  occupation 
of  London  by  the  Romans. 

The  oldest  portion  of  the  fortress  is  the  Keep,  or  Hlnte  Toiver,  so 
named  from  its  having  been  originally  ivhitewaibed,  as  appears  from  a 
Latin  document  of  the  year  1241.  This  Tower  was  built  about  1078, 
for  William  the  Conqueror,  by  Gundulf,  bishop  of  Rochester,  who 
also  erected  Rochester  Castle ;  and  the  two  fortresses  have  points  of 
resemblance.  W^illiam  Rufus  greatly  added  to  the  Keep  ;*  Henry  I . 
strengthened  the  fortress ;  and  Stephen,  in  1 1 40,  kept  his  court  here, 
with  all  the  rude  splendour  of  the  period.     Fitzstephen  describes  it  as 


•  Gundulf  reached  the  age  of  eighty-four,  and  lived  till  1 108,  that  is,  through 
the  reigns  of  the  Conqueror,  and  Rufus,  and  to  the  ninth  of  Henry  I.  Ralph 
Flambard,  Bishop  of  Durham,  the  rapacious  minister  of  Rufus,  greatly  assisted 
in  completing  the  Tower,  and,  strangely  enough,  was  the  first  person  known 
to  have  been  imprisoned  there.  He  was  sent  to  the  Tower  15th  August,  iioo, 
and  was  lodged  in  the  White  Tower.  Two  shillings  daily,  then  a  large  sura, 
was  allowed  for  his  subsistence.  Making  his  keepers  drunk,  and  obtaining  a 
ry.e  in  a  flagon,  he  let  himself  down  from  the  window  of  the  south  gallery, 
February  4,  iioi,  taking  his  pastoral  staff  with  him.  The  rope  broke,  and  he 
was  injured  in  falling,  but  he  managed  to  escape  to  Normandy.  He  lived  to 
Rcnvi^  his  see,  and  was  the  architect  of  several  remarkable  buildinj;s. 


\t  The  Tower,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison, 

"the  Tower  Palatine,  very  large  and  very  strong,  whose  court  and 
walls  rise  up  from  a  deep  foundation.  The  mortar  is  tempered  <with 
the  blood  of  beasts.  On  the  west  are  two  castles,  well  fenced."  The 
mortar  process  we  suspect  to  be  less  tenable  than  the  Roman  origin  ; 
but  vmters  of  history  are  loth  to  part  with  such  attractive  mettle. 

its  greatest  antiquity  must  be  placed  at  eight  centuries;  and  all  that 
we  shall  attempt  is  a  chronological  record  of  the  Tower  in  the  several 
reigns.  Thus,  about  1190,  the  Regent  Bishop  Longchamp  surrounded 
'  the  fortress  with  an  embattled  stone  wall  and  "  a  broade  and  deepe 
ditch :"  for  breaking  down  part  of  the  city  wall  he  was  deposed,  and 
besieged  in  the  Tower,  but  surrendered  after  one  night.  King  John 
held  his  court  here.  Henry  III.  strengthened  the  White  Tower,  and 
founded  the  Lion  Tower  and  other  western  bulwarks;  and  in  this 
reign  the  palace-fortress  was  alternately  held  by  the  king  and  the  insur- 
gent barons.  Edward  I.  enlarged  the  moat,  and  on  the  west  made  the 
last  additions  of  military  importance  prior  to  the  invention  of  cannon. 
Edward  II.  retired  here  against  his  subjects;  and  here  was  bora  his 
eldest  daughter,  Joan  of  the  Tower.  Edward  III.  imprisoned  here 
many  illustrious  persons,  including  David  king  of  Scotland,  and  John 
king  of  France  with  Philip  his  son.  During  the  insurrection  of  Wat 
Tyler,  King  Richard  II.  took  refuge  here,  with  his  court  and  nobles, 
six  hundred  persons :  Richard  was  deposed  whilst  imprisoned  here,  in 
1399.  Edward  IV.  kept  a  magnificent  court  here.  In  1460  Lord 
Scales  was  besieged  here  by  the  Yorkists,  and  was  taken  and  slain  in 
endeavouring  to  escape  by  water.  Henry  VI.,  twice  imprisoned  in  the 
fortress,  was  murdered  by  Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  who  crossed 
the  Thames  for  that  purpose  in  a  small  boat,  at  two  in  the  afternoon  of 
Tuesday,  the  2  ist  of  May,  147 1 ;  the  weapon  was  a  knife,  and  the  wound 
was  in  the  ribs.  The  beheading  of  Lord  Hastings,  in  1483,  by  order  of 
the  Protector  Gloucester;  the  seizure  of  the  crown  by  Richard;  and  the 
murder  of  his  nephews,  Edward  V.  and  the  Duke  of  York, — are  the 
next  events  in  the  annals  of  the  fortress.  Henry  VII.  frecjuently  resided 
In  the  Tower,  where  also  his  queen  sought  refuge  from  "  the  society  of 
ber  sullen  and  cold-hearted  husband:"  the  king  held  a  splendid  touma- 
tnent  herein  1501 ,  his  queen  died  here  in  1503.  Henry  VIII. often  held 
his  court  in  this  fortress:  here,  in  great  pomp,  Henry  received  all  his 
wives  previous  to  their  espousals ;  here  were  beheaded  his  queens  Anne 
bolcyn  and  Catherine  Howard.  About  this  time  (154S),  an  old  clirU' 
nicle  tells  us  that  a  great  fne  was  caused  in  the  Tower  by  a  Frenchman 
•fitting  on  fire  a  barrel  of  gunpowder,  *'  and  so  was  burned  himself,  and 
so  more  pcTsons." 


and  its  Memories.  1 7 

Edward  VI.  kept  his  court  in  the  Tower  prior  to  his  coronation : 
here  his  uncle,  the  Protector  Somerset,  was  twice  imprisoned  before  his 
decapitation  on  Tower  Hill,  in  1552.  Lady  Jane  Grey  entered  the 
fortress  as  queen  of  England,  but  in  three  wef  ks  became  here  a  captive 
with  her  youthful  husband :  both  were  here  beheaded.  Queen  Mar)*, 
at  her  court  in  the  Tower,  first  showed  her  Romish  resolves; 
her  sister,  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  was  imprisoned  here  on  suspicion 
of  favouring  Sir  Thomas  Wyat's  design  ;  she  was  compelled  to  enter 
at  the  Traitors'  Gate.  Queen  Elizabeth  did  not  keep  her  court  in 
the  Tower,  but  at  no  period  was  the  state  prison  more  '*  constantly 
thronged  with  delinquents."  James  I.  resided  here,  and  delighted  in 
combats  of  the  wild  beasts  kept  here.  In  Charles  I.'s  reign  many 
leading  partisans  were  imprisoned  here ;  and  under  the  Government  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  and  in  the  reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II.,  the 
Tower  was  filled  with  prisoners,  the  victims  of  state  policy,  intrigue, 
tyranny,  or  crime.  Almost  from  the  Conquest,  our  sovereigns,  at 
their  coronations,  went  in  great  state  and  procession  from  the  Tower, 
through  the  city,  to  Westminster ;  the  last  obser\'ance  being  at  the 
coronation  of  Charles  II.  All  the  domestic  apartments  of  the  ancient 
palace  within  the  Tower  were  taken  down  during  the  reigns  of 
James  II.  and  William  and  Mary.  In  1792  the  garrison  was  increased. 
Several  hundred  men  were  employed  in  repairing  the  fortifications, 
opening  the  embrasures,  and  mounting  cannon ;  and  on  the  western 
side  of  the  fortress  a  strong  barrier  was  formed  with  old  casks  filled 
with  earth  and  rubble ;  the  gates  were  closed  at  an  early  hour,  and  no 
one  but  the  military  allowed  to  go  on  the  ramparts. 

The  Tower  Palace  occupied  the  south-eastern  portion  of  the  inner 
ward,  as  shown  in  a  plan  of  the  fortress  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
within  a  century  from  which  period  much  of  its  ancient  character 
was  obliterated. 

The  IFi/ite  Toiuer  is  a  rare  example  of  Norman  architecture,  hut 
externally  it  has  been  much  disfigured  by  casing  and  restorations  in 
the  architectural  style  of  the  reign  of  James  I.  The  interior  has  been 
little  interfered  with.  The  council-chamber  and  chapel  are  at  a  con- 
siderable height  above  the  ground  of  Tower-green,  and  are  reached 
by  two  circular  staircases  of  curious  construction;  one  of  these  is  on 
the  north  and  the  other  on  the  west  side  of  the  White  Tower :  these 
are  formed  in  the  thickness  of  the  masonry.  Here  and  there  are 
loopholes,  in  which  may  be  seen  the  great  strength  of  the  main 
walls  of  the  Keep.  The  council-chamber  is  a  large  apartment,  now 
Ptripped  of  its  tapestry  hangings  and  other  fittings,     it  was  in  this 


1 8  TJic  T  tver,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison, 

chamber  that  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  rose  from  the  council-table  and 
admitted  a  body  of  armed  men,  who,  by  the  Duke's  orders,  arrested 
Lord  Hastings  and  other  partisans  of  his  nephew.  Lord  Hastings  was 
immediately  taken  down  the  stairs  and  beheaded  on  some  beams  of 
timber  which  had  been  brought  into  the  Tower-green  for  the  purpose 
of  making  some  repairs  in  the  adjoining  buildings;  others  were  com- 
mitted to  close  prisons,  where  they  endured  much  suffering. 

From  some  of  the  deeply-recessed  windows  of  the  White  Tower  we 
have  glimpses  of  the  little  Chapel  of  St.  Peter,  in  which  two  headless 
Queens  and  a  large  number  of  persons  of  note  who  have  sufferevi 
execution,  lie  buried.  Beyond  the  outer  walls  and  across  the  moat, 
northward,  is  the  site  of  the  scaffold  which  was  often  raised  on 
Tower-hill.  The  last  who  were  beheaded  here  were  Lords  Balmerino, 
Kilmarnock,  and  Lovat,  for  their  share  in  the  northern  rebellion,  in 
1745.  Looking  westward,  within  the  walls  of  the  fortress  may  still 
be  seen  at  a  short  distance  from  the  Chapel  of  St.  Peter,  the  square 
space  on  which  the  scaffold  was  placed  whereon  were  put  to  death 
two  Queens  of  Henry  VIII.,  Lady  Jane  Grey,  and  others. 

The  Jrms  and  Armour  in  this  tower  have  been  re-arranged  by  Mr. 
Planchc,  Somerset  Herald,  chronologically,  in  the  several  compartments 
appropriated  to  the  successive  periods  of  English  history.  The 
wall  above  the  arches  is  painted  with  the  livery  colours  of  the  royal 
families  of  England,  from  the  Plantagenets  to  the  Stuarts,  and 
bearing  the  names  and  dates  of  the  sovereigns,  in  gold,  from  Henry  IL 
to  James  II. 

In  the  Bloody  Tower,  in  a  dark  windowless  room,  in  which  one 
of  the  portcullises  was  worked,  George  Duke  of  Clarence  is  said  to 
have  been  drowned  in  malmsey ;  in  the  adjoining  chamber,  the  two 
Princes  are  said  to  have  been  "  smothered ;"  whence  the  name  of  Bloody 
Tower.  Thi?  has  been  much  disputed ;  but  in  a  tract  temp.  James  I. 
we  read  that  the  above  "  turret  our  elders  termed  the  Bloody  Tower; 
for  the  bloodshed,  as  they  say,  of  those  infant  princes  of  Edward  IV., 
whom  Richard  III.,  of  cursed  memory  (I  shudder  to  mention  it), 
savagely  killed,  two  together  at  one  time."  In  the  latter  chamber  was 
imprisoned  Colonel  Hutchinson,  whose  wife,  daughter  of  Sir  Allen 
Apsley,  lieutenant  of  the  tower,  where  she  was  bovn,  relates  the  above 
traditions.  This  portion  was  formerly  called  the  Garden  Tower ;  it  was 
built  temp.  Edward  III.,  and  is  the  only  ancient  place  of  security,  as  a 
state  prison,  in  the  Tower :  it  is  entered  through  a  small  concealed  door 
in  the  inner  ballium ;  it  consists  of  a  day-room  and  a  bedroom,  and 
the  If^''"  on  which  the  prisoner  was  sonietiincs  allowed  to  breathe  the  iur. 


and  its  Memories.  10 

By  this  concealed  door  tradition  says,  the  murderers  of  tlie  two  Princes 
brought  out  the  dead  bodies  of  their  royal  victims.  It  will  be  re- 
collected that,  in  the  commonly-received  history  of  this  transaction,  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  at  the  bottom  of  the  staircase  on  the  west  side 
of  the  White  Tower,  was  found  a  wooden  box,  in  which  were  a 
quantity  of  bones,  supposed  to  have  been  those  of  the  youthful  Princes; 
by  direction  of  King  Charles,  they  were  inclosed  and  buried  in  the  north 
aisle  of  the  chapel  of  Hcniy  VII.  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Bailey,  the 
Historian  of  the  Tower,  however,  believed  the  murder  to  have  been  com- 
mitted in  the  White  Tower,  from  the  bones  having  been  found  there, 
near  a  door  on  the  south  side.  Still,  Sir  Thomas  More,  who  wrote  a 
century  and  a  half  before  these  bones  were  found,  says  the  bodies  had 
been  removed  by  a  priest  from  the  spot  where  they  were  tirst  laid  by 
Tyrrel,  on  the  night  of  the  murder,  to  a  less  dishonourable  grave.  This 
priest  had  removed  them  at  the  king's  request ;  and  as  priest  and 
king  died  suddenly,  the  secret  of  tlieir  new  resting-place  would  account 
for  Henry  the  Seventh  being  unable  to  find  them,  when  it  was  of 
supreme  importance  for  him  to  show  that  the  Princes  were  dead.  The 
discovery  of  bones  (every  way  answering  to  those  of  Edward  and 
Richard)  under  the  old  staircase  leading  into  the  Chapel  of  St.  John 
the  Evangelist,  in  the  White  Tower,  agrees  exactly  with  the  narrative 
in  More.  Richard  might  well  object  to  the  burial  of  his  nephews  in  a 
place  so  public  as  the  gateway  under  the  Bloody  Tower.  The  stair- 
case of  St.  John's  Chapel  would  offer  him  a  spot  which  he  might  con- 
sider as  at  once  secret  and  sacred. 

Some  further  light  was  thrown  upon  this  question  in  1868.  Adjoining 
the  Bloody  Tower  is  the  H'aktfield  Toiver.  An  opinion  had  long  tjeen 
entertained  that  a  staircase  existed  in  the  wall  between  these  two  towers, 
but  investigation  had  hitherto  failed  in  detecting  it.  Between  or  in  the 
thickness  of  the  walls  connecting  the  Bloody  Tower  with  the  Wake- 
field, was  discovered  a  iiinall  passage  which  leads  past  the  chamber  con- 
taining the  windlass  for  raising  the  portcullis,  and  ascends  in  a  spiral 
course  to  the  top  of  the  ballium-wall;  thence  it  leads  into  a  passage 
which  connected  the  Bloody  Tower  with  the  Lieutenant's  lodgings,  and 
communicated  immediately  with  the  room  in  which  the  princes  are  tradi- 
tionally said  to  have  been  murdered.  At  the  bottom  of  the  staircase 
the  stones  of  which  were  sharp  and  clean,  was  a  small  cell,  with  a 
chimney-flue,  which  (both  cell  and  flue)  were  crammed  with  bones  and 
earth.  The  bones  were  at  first  said  to  be  human,  as  might  be  expected ; 
but  upon  careful  examination,  they  were  found  to  be  entirely  the  bones 
of  animals,  principally  deer  and  oxen.     It  has  been  conjectured  that  the 

c  a 


i 


20  The  Tower,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison, 

staircisc  may  have  been  closed  immediately  after  the  murder ;  that  the 
bodies  were  concealed  in  the  flue,  so  closely  adjoining,  in  order  to 
escape  the  notice  that  their  removal  and  burial  elsewhere  would  occa- 
sion ;  and  that  both  flue  and  stairs  may  have  been  at  once  closed  up  by 
Richard's  own  orders.  The  work  is  carefully  executed,  the  openings 
oeing  closed  with  stone,  built  up  so  as  exactly  to  match  the  walls,  and 
thus  escape  obsen'ation.  At  all  events,  it  is  very  singular  that  a  con- 
venient staircase  already  made  should  be  closed,  thereby  necessitating 
the  fomiation  of  another,  on  the  further  side  of  the  tower,  to  reach  the 
chambers  above.  Here  is  fresh  subject  for  surmise,  especially  as  to  the 
animal  bones.  In  front  of  the  foot  of  the  stairs  is  an  arched  opening, 
which  has  all  the  appearance  of  a  doorway ;  but  there  is  nothing  left  to 
show  how  it  communicated  with  any  other  building,  as  it  is  at  a  con- 
siderable height  from  the  ground.  The  chamber  in  the  basement  of  the 
Bloody  Tower,  entered  by  a  small  door  immediately  behind  the  gate  on 
the  east  side,  was  evidently  intended  for  the  use  of  the  guard. 

"  In  a  chamber  of  the  Bloody  Tower,"  says  Mr.  Dixon,  "  occurred  that 
strange  scene  when  Sir  Thomas  Wyat,  on  his  way  to  Tower  Hill  for  execu- 
tion, was  carried  into  Courtney's  room,  by  Mary's  command,  in  the  hope 
that,  on  a  chance  of  his  own  life  being  spared,  he  would  implicate  Eli7,a- 
beth  and  Courtney  in  the  Kentish  plot.  The  room  was  full  of  men  ; 
many  lords  of  the  council,  the  lord  mayor  and  sheriffs,  gentlemen  of  the 
guard,  officers  of  the  tower, — all  eager  for  the  words  on  which  Eliza- 
beth's life  as  well  as  Courtney's  life  then  hung.  But  the  undaunted 
poet— a  man  worthy  to  die  for  such  a  woman — would  not  win  his 
pardon  by  a  lie.  Lord  Chandos,  his  bitter  enemy,  says  he  implored 
Lord  Courtney  to  confess  the  trutli ;  the  sheriffs  of  London  declared 
that  he  asked  Courtney  to  forgive  him  for  having  spoken  of  him  and  the 
Lady  Elizabeth  in  connexion  with  his  plot.  A  few  minutes  later,  with 
the  axe  gleaming  close  besitle  him,  he  told  the  people  on  Tower  Hill 
•hat  he  had  never  accused  either  Elizabeth  or  Courtney ;  that  he  could 
■tfot  truly  do  it,  as  neither  had  known  of  his  rising  until  the  commotion 
/tad  begun.     In  another  moment  his  head  was  in  the  dust." 

The  Bloody  Tower  gateway,  built  in  the  time  of  Edward  III.  opposite 
Traitor's  Gate  is  the  main  entrance  to  the  inner  ward  :  it  has  massive 
gates  and  porfcullis  complete,  at  the  southern  end  ;  the  gates  are  genuine, 
and  the  portcullis  is  said  to  be  the  only  one  remaining  in  England  fit  for 
use.  The  late  Duke  of  Wellington  described  this  tower  as  the  best,  if 
not  the  only  good  place  of  security  at  the  disposition  of  the  oflicers  of 
the  Tower,  in  which  state  prisoners  can  be  placed. 

Traitors'  Gate  was  a  small  postern,  with  a  drawbridge,  fronting  th« 


-Ts>- 


and  lis  Memories.  2 1 

Thames,  as  Stow  tells  us,  "  seldom  let  down  but  for  the  receipt  of  some  ^^ 
great  persons,  prisoners."  "Perhaps,"  says  Mr.  Ferrey,  the  architect, k  \ 
"  no  part  of  this  fortified  enclosure  has  suffered  more  from  improper  use 
than  the  Traitors'  Gate.  Few  people  can  be  aw  are  of  the  solemn  , 
grandeur  which  this  water-gate  must  have  presented  in  bygone  times, 
wlien  its  architectural  features  were  unmutilated.  Gateways  and  barbi- 
cans to  castles  are  usually  bold  and  striking  in  their  design;  but  a^/ 
water-gate  of  this  kind,  in  its  perfect  state,  must  have  been  quite  unique*' 
The  structure  consists  in  plan  of  an  oblong  block,  each  comer  having 
an  attached  round  turret  of  large  dimensions.  The  south  archway, 
which  formed  the  water  approach  from  the  Thames,  guarded  by  a 
portcullis,  is  now  effectually  closed  by  a  wharf  occupying  the  entire 
length  of  the  tower.  The  water  originally  flowed  through  the  base  of 
the  gate-house,  and  extended,  probably,  beyond  the  north  side  of  it,  to 
the  traitors'  steps,  as  they  were  called.  Here  the  superincumbent  mass 
of  the  gateway  is  supported  by  an  archway,  spanning  the  entire  width  L 
of  the  front,  from  turret  to  turret,  a  distance  of  more  than  sixty  feet.  |l\/ 
Such  an  arch,  I  think,  is  not  to  be  found  in  any  olTier  gateway,  and  is  a  |l 
piece  of  masterly  construction,  A  stajrcase  in  the  north-west  turret 
conducts  to  the  galleries,  or  wall-passages,  formed  on  a  level  with  the 
top  of  the  archway.  These  passages  are  lighted  by  loopholes  through 
the  outer  walls  ;  and  have  a  breastwork  on  the  inner  faces,  pierced  and 
crenellated,  so  that  each  side  of  the  gateway  could  be  guarded  by 
soldiers,  commanding  the  space  below  as  well  as  on  the  outside.  The 
four  angular  tuirets  are  approached  by  the  wall  passages ;  each  turret 
has  two  tiei-s  of  chambers.  They  are  beautifully  groined,  having  elegant 
vaulting  shafts,  with  capitals  and  bases.  A  lancet  window  on  each 
side  (for  the  rooms  are  octangular  within),  lights  the  apartment.  No 
stranger  on  looking  at  the  Traitors'  Gate  as  it  is  now  encumbered, 
could  possibly  form  an  idea  of  its  ancient  dignity.  The  whole  of  the 
upper  part  is  crammed  with  offices,  and  disfigured  in  every  possible 
manner;  and  the  gloom  of  the  Traitors'  Gate  is  now  broken  up  by  the 
blatant  noise  of  steam  machinery  for  hoisting  and  packing  war-weapons." 
As  this  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  prisons  in  England,  so  it  is  the 
most  honourable  (says  Hatton,  1708),  few  criminals  having  the  favour 
of  being  here  imprisoned  but  the  nobility,  or  Members  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  who  are  for  high  misdemeanour  kept  in  safe  custody,  by 
order  of  their  own  house,  and  the  governor  or  lieutenant  have  their  fees, 
viz.,  for  a  duke,  200/.,  an  inferior  peer,  100/.,  and  a  commoner,  50/. 
The  gentleman-porter  hath  for  his  fee  such  prisoners'  upper  garment, 
or  compounds  for  it,  which  is  commonly  30/.  for  a  peer,  and  5/.  each 


il^^^ssttf^fe^^-^^-s^' 


22 


The  Tozver,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison. 


^ 


\y 


>^ 


for  others.  The  yeomen-warders  attend  prisoners  vvliose  crimes  or 
misdemeanours  are  something  against  the  Queen  (or  government)  who 
allow  the  prisoners,  viz.  to  a  duke,  4/.,  other  lords,  2/.  4s.  r^d.,  and  to 
knights  and  gentlemen,  13J.  4^.  per  week  while  they  are  under  con- 
finement. Notwithstanding  the  numerous  landmarks  of  our  history, 
which  have  been  swept  away  within  the  Tower  walls,  here  and  there 
ancient  features  remain  to  keep  in  memory  the  many  innocent  victims 
murdered  here  in  times  of  despotism  and  tyranny,  and  which  "  pass  like 
dark  phantoms  before  the  wind." 

"  On  through  that  gate,  through  which  before 
Went  Sidney,  Russell,  Raleigh,  Cranracr,  More." 

Rogers's  Human  Life. 

The  prisoners  were  conveyed  to  Westminster  for  trial,  and  througli 
the  gate  they  were  brought  back  accompanied  by  the  headsman  and  the 
axe.  "  It  would  seem,"  says  Mr.  Ferrey,  "  that  the  enormous  size  of 
the  north  archway  must  have  been  for  the  admission  of  several  barges 
or  vessels  to  pass  within  the  present  boundary  of  the  gateway-walls 
when  the  outer  portcullis  was  closed,  and  that  the  Thames  once  pene- 
trated further  to  the  north." 

Mr.  Dixon  reminds  us  that — "When  it  was  found  necessary,  from  any 
cause,  to  carry  a  prisoner  through  the  streets,  the  sheriffs  received  him 
from  the  king's  lieutenants  at  the  entrance  to  the  City,  gave  a  receipt 
for  him,  and  took  another  on  delivering  him  up  at  the  gates  of  the 
tower.  The  receipt  of  the  governor  for  the  body  of  the  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth— his  living  body — is  still  extant." 

The  B^/ZToiu/^r,  containing  the  alarm-bell  of  thegarrison,  is  next  in  order. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Hugo,  F.S.A.,  thus  picturesquely  introduces  two  of 
ttic  illustrious  tenants  of  this  historical  prison  house — this  gloomy  dun- 
geon,  and  the  scarcely  less  gloomy  chamber  immediately  above  it.  Of 
course,  the  identification  of  particular  prisoners  with  particular  spots 
is  legendary,  and  we  can  rarely  adduce  precise  historical  proof  of 
the  correctness  of  such  views.  Assuming  as  a  fact  what  tradition 
asserts, — these  walls  once  looked  •  upon  two  faces,  atnong,  doubtless, 
many  others,  whose  owners  possess  considerable  attractions  for  the 
minds  of  Englishmen.  The  first  of  these  two  was  the  venerable  Fisher, 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  who  fell  under  the  headsman's  axe  for  denying  the 
spiritual  supremacy  of  Henry  VIII. 

'  The  Bishop  of  Roclicstcr  was  one  of  the  foremost  men  of  his  age,  and 
was  for  many  years  confessor  to  the  king's  grandmother,  the  Countess 
of  Richmond ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  her  munificence  towards  our  two 
univcrsitica — by  founding  St.  John's  and  Christ's  Colleges  at  Cambridge^ 


and  its  Memories.  23 

arhl  the  professorships  of  divinity  in  botli  Oxford  and  Cambridge — was 
mainly  owin;^  to  his  pious  advice  and  direction.  He  sided,  as  was 
Hkely,  against  the  King  in  the  matter  of  Qjjeen  Katharine,  whose  cause 
he  warmly  advocated,  and,  as  also  was  likely,  drew  down  upon  himself 
the  displeasure  of  his  unscrupulous  sovereign.  At  length,  when  called 
before  the  Lambeth  council,  and  commanded  to  acknowledge  the  King's 
supremacy,  he  resolutely  refused  to  do  so,  and  was  forthwith  committed 
to  the  Tower. 

"  He  had  now  reached  his  eightieth  year,  and  the  cold  damp  dungeon 
into  which  he  was  thrust  was  not  calculated  to  prolong  his  days.  Per- 
haps his  enemies  desired  that  death  should  naturally  remove  him,  and 
remove  from  them  also  the  odium  which  could  not  fail  to  attach  to  all 
who  should  be  instrumental  in  his  more  direct  and  manifest  destruction. 
His  constitution,  however,  was  proof  against  his  position,  and  for  many 
months  he  bore  his  privations  as  became  a  good  soldier  in  a  cause  on 
which  his  heart  and  soul  were  set.  Out  of  his  painful  dungeon  he 
wrote  to  Mr.  Secretary  Cromwell  in  these  words : — '  Furthermore,  I . 
beseech  you,  to  be  good  master  to  me  in  my  necessity,  for  I  have  neither 
suit  nor  yet  other  clothes  that  are  necessary  for  me  to  wear  but  that  be 
ragged  and  rent  shamefully.  My  diet  also,  God  knoweth  how  slender 
it  is  at  many  times ;  and  now  in  mine  age  my  stomack  may  not 
away  with  but  a  few  kinds  of  meat,  which,  if  1  want,  I  decay  forth- 
with, and  fall  into  coughs  and  diseases  of  my  body,  and  cannot  keep 
myself  in  health.  And  as  our  Lord  knoweth,  I  have  nothing  left  unto 
me  to  provide  any  better,  but  as  my  brother  of  his  own  purse  layeth 
out  for  me  to  his  great  hindrance.  Therefore,  good  Master  Secretary, 
I  beseech  you  to  have  some  pity  upon  me,  and  let  me  have  such  things  as 
are  necessary  for  me  in  mine  age,  and  especially  for  my  health.  *  *  *  * 
Then  shall  you  bind  me  for  ever  to  be  your  poor  beadsman  unto 
Almighty  God,  who  ever  have  you  in  his  protection  and  custody.* 

"  I'his  was  written  in  the  depth  of  a  bitter  winter,  for  the  aged  writer 
concludes: — 'This,  I  beseech  you,  to  grant  me  of  your  charity.  And 
thus  our  Lord  send  you  a  merry  Christmas,  and  a  comfortable,  to  your 
heart's  desire. — At  the  Tower,  the  22  day  of  December.' "  < 

Condemned  by  his  peers,  and  brought  back  to  the  Water-gate,  he 
turned  round  and  dismissed  his  escort,  as  though  they  had  been  a  guard 
of  honour,  and  he  were  only  coming  in  from  a  feast,  saying,  that  as  he 
had  nothing  else  left  he  should  give  them  his  hearty  thanks. 

This  Bell  Tower,  one  of  the  safest  dungeons  in  the  stronghold,  was 
considered  as  next  in  rank  to  the  Bloody  Tower.  Elizabeth  is  said  to 
have  been  first  of  all  lodged  in  its  stiong  room,  until  the  muimurs  of  all 


24  The  Tozvcr,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison, 

London  md  the  threats  of  Lord  Howard  and  the  fleet  persuaded  Ixlasy 
to  treat  her  with  some  show  of  justice.  It  was  the  prison,  as  we  see,  of 
Courtney  and  Lady  Lennox,  both  of  the  royal  race,  of  the  blood  of 
Edward  IV. 

"  The  scene  again  changes,  and  this  time  a  very  different  prisoner  enters 
the  portals  of  the  Bell  tower.  It  is  now  the  fair  and  blooming  face  of 
a  young  and  noble  lady,  afterwards  the  Queen  of  this  great  country, 
then  known  by  the  name  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth.  Her  sister,  ever 
sullen  and  suspicious,  had  removed  her,  to  the  danger  of  her  life, 
fi'om  her  home  at  Ashridge,  in  Hertfordshire,  and  after  necessary  delay 
at  Redborne,  St.  Alban's,  South  Mimms,  and  Highgate,  she  at  length, 
some  days  after  the  beginning  of  her  journey,  arrived  at  Whitehall. 
Within  a  fortnight  she  was  lodged  in  her  prison  in  the  Tower.  Doubt- 
less you  know  the  story ;  but  her  entrance  into  the  fortress  deserves  a 
moment's  mention.  The  barge  was  directed  to  enter  by  Traitors' 
Gate,  much  to  the  annoyance  of  the  fair  prisoner.  It  rained  hard  (an 
old  chronicler  says),  and  a  certain  unnamed  lord  offered  her  his 
cloak;  but  she  put  her  hand  back  with  a  good  dash,  and  then,  as 
she  set  her  foot  on  the  dreaded  stairs,  she  cried  out  aloud,  '  Here 
landeth  as  good  a  subject,  being  a  prisoner,  as  ever  landed  at  these 
stairs ;  and  before  Thee,  O  God,  I  speak  it,  having  none  other  friend  but 
Thee.'  A  few  minutes  afterwards  found  her  a  fast  prisoner,  and  as  tradi- 
tion tells  us,  in  the  very  tuiret  to  which  we  have  drawn  attention." 

Walter  Raleigh  was  thrice  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  Beauchamp 
Tower  and  the  White  Tower  were  his  prison-houses;  but  his  twelve 
long  years  of  imprisonment  were  passed  in  the  Bloody  Tower.  "  It 
was  hither  that  Prince  Henry  came  to  spend  his  hours  with  the  great 
prisoner ;  and  where  he  one  day  said  to  his  attendants,  as  he  rode  away, 
that  no  king  save  his  father  would  keep  such  a  bird  in  such  a  cage.  It 
was  to  these  narrow  chambers  that  Lady  Raleigh,  the  bright  Bessie 
Throgmorton  of  his  youth,  leaving  all  the  splendours  of  Sherborne 
Castle,  came  to  reside  with  her  hero.  Here  her  son  Carew  was  born."* 
Here  Raleigh  devoted  much  time  to  chemistry  and  pharmaceutical  pre- 
parations. "  He  has  converted,"  says  Sir  William  Wade,  Lieutenant 
of  the  Tower,  "  a  little  hen-house  in  the  garden  into  a  still-house,  and 
h^rc  he  doth  spend  his  time  all  the  day  in  distillations  ;  ....  he  doth 
show  himself  upon  the  wall  in  his  garden  to  the  view  of  the  people:" 
here  Raleigh  prepared  his  "  Rare  Cordiai,"t  wrote  his  political  discourses^ 


•  Dixon, 
t  Raleigh's  "  Rare  Cordial,"  with  otlu-r  ingredients  introduced  by  Sir  KeneliQ 
Digby  and  bir  A.  l-'nuer,  is  the  Cun/tctio  atvmatica  of  the  present  clay. 


and  its  Memories.  25 

and  commenced  his  famous  "  History  of  the  World."  He  was  at 
length  liberated,  but  again  committed  to  the  Tower,  about  two  months 
before  his  execution  at  Westminster. 

Raleigh's  shifting  imprisonments  must  have  been  very  irksome.  Thus, 
in  1603,  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  Raleigh  was  first  confined  in  his 
own  house,  then  conveyed  to  the  Tower,  next  sent  to  Winchester  gaol, 
returned  from  thence  to  the  Tower,  imprisoned  for  between  two  and 
three  months  in  the  Fleet,  and  again  removed  to  the  Tower,  where  he 
remained  until  released  thirteen  years  afterwards,  to  undertake  his  new 
expedition  to  Guiana.  Mr.  Payne  Collier  possesses  a  copy  of  that 
rare  tract,  "A  Good  Speed  to  Virginia,"  4to,  1609,  with  the  auto- 
graph on  the  title-page,  "  W.  Ralegh,  Turr.  Lond. ;"  showing  that  at 
the  time  this  tract  was  published  and  read  by  Raleigh,  he  recorded  him- 
self a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London.* 

Raleigh's  constant  study  was  in  the  pages  of  that  Divine  Book,  by 
which,  as  he  told  the  clergyman  who  rebuked  him  for  his  seeming  light- 
ness, on  the  eve  of  his  beheadal,  he  had  prepared  himself  to  look  fear 
lessly  on  death.  His  last  hours  were  each  an  episode,  and  his  acts  and 
words  have  been  carefully  recorded.  On  the  morning  of  his  execution, 
his  keeper  brought  a  cup  of  sack  to  him,  and  inquired  how  he  was 
pleased  with  it?  "As  well  as  he  who  drank  of  St.  Giles's  bowl  as  he 
rode  to  Tybume,"  answered  the  knight,  "  and  said,  '  it  was  a  good  drink, 
if  a  man  might  but  tarry  by  it.' "  "  Prithee,  never  fear,  Beeston,"  cried 
he  to  his  old  friend  Sir  Hugh,  who  was  repulsed  from  the  scaflbld  by  the 
sheriff,  "  I  shall  have  a  place !"  A  bald  man,  from  extreme  age,  pressed 
forward  "to  see  him,"  he  said,  "and  pray  God  for  him."  Raleigh 
took  a  richly-embroidered  cap  from  his  own  head,  and  placing  it  on  that 
of  the  old  man,  said,  "  Take  this,  good  friend,  to  remember  me, 
for  you  have  more  need  of  it  than  1."  "  Farewell,  my  lords,"  was 
his  cheerful  parting  to  a  courtly  group,  who  affectionately  took  tlieir 
sad  leave  of  him,  "  I  have  a  long  journey  before  me,  and  I  must  e'en 
say  good-bye."  "  Now,  I  am  going  to  God,"  said  that  heroic  spirit,  as 
he  trod  the  scaffold ;  and,  gently  touchmg  the  axe,  added,  "  This 
is  a  sharp  medicine,  but  it  will  cure  all  diseases."  The  very  heads- 
man slirank  from  beheading  one  so  illustrious  and  brave,  until  the  un- 


•  Sir  Richard  Baker,  in  his  "Chronicle,"  oddly  says  of  Raleigh's  first  im- 
prisonment for  treason,  that  "  he  was  kept  in  the  Tower,  where,  to  his  great 
noiiour,  he  spent  his  time  in  writing,  and  had  been  a  happy  man  if  he  had  never 
been  released.  But  such  is  our  state,  that  no  man's  fortune  is  understood 
whether  it  be  good  or  bad,  until  it  be  discovered  by  the  event."  Baker 
had  sad  experiences  of  loss  of  liberty,  many  of  which  are  shown  in  bis 
••Chronicle. " 


26  TJie  Toivcr,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison, 

quailing  soldier  addressed  him,  "  What,  dost  thou  fear?  Strike,  man  !* 
In  another  moment,  the  mighty  soul  had  fled  from  its  mangled  tenement. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  perished  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age — a  mourn- 
ful monument  of  the  proverbial  mutability  of  fortune,  and  a  testimony 
that  the  most  brilliant  capacities,  unless  accompanied  by  moral  recti- 
tude, are  insufficient  and  unstable.  However  much  we  may  be  inchned 
to  dissent  from  that  sweeping  sentence  of  Dr.  Lingard,  that,  in  this 
catastrophe,  "  the  provocation  was  great,  and  the  punishment  not  under- 
stood," we  can,  nevertheless,  coincide  with  that  eminent  historian  in 
looking  with  admiration  upon  the  magnanimous  self-possession  of 
Raleigh.  We  can  peruse  vi^ith  joy  that  splendid  panegyric  uttered  by 
ihe  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  who  attended  Sir  Walter  on  the  scaffold,  and 
who  declared  that  "  his  was  the  most  fearless  of  deaths  that  ever  was 
known,  and  the  most  resolute  and  confident,  yet  with  reverence  and 
conscience ! "  We  can  rejoice  that  the  contemporary  population  were 
sufficiently  dispassionate  to  regard  that  execution,  according  to  Hume, 
as  a  deed  of  "  cruelty  and  injustice,  meanness  and  indiscretion  !"  We 
can  rejoice  to  hear  Macaulay  asserting  that  that  decollation,  "  under  all 
the  circumstances,  must  be  considered  as  a  dastardly  murder  !"  We 
can  almost  rejoice  at  that  dramatic  incident  at  Whitehall,  where,  several 
years  after  this  imperial  assassination,  James  was  startled  by  the  intro- 
duction of  Raleigh's  only  surviving  son,  Carew,  at  court,  and  turned 
from  him  with  loathing,  muttering  that  he  resembled  his  father's  ghost ! 
An  anecdote  which  proves,  as  Miss  Aikin  keenly  remarks,  '  how  loudly 
the  conscience  of  the  King  upbraided  him  with  the  sacrifice  of  Sir 
Walter.'  We  can  rejoice  in  these  considerations,  painful  and  lament- 
able as  they  are,  because,  in  the  indignation  which  they  aroused  against 
the  murderer  of  Raleigh,  we  recognise  the  safeguard  of  the  future 
illustrious.  Because  Sovereigns  must  tremble  in  their  palaces,  and 
Ambassadors  swallow  vengeance  in  their  cabinets,  before  another  sub- 
ject, however  exalted  or  however  base,  shall  suffer  wrongfully  for  their 
satisfaction ;  before  another  Raleigh  can  perish  by  an  ignominious 
punishment,  deriving  an  additional  glory  to  Ins  memoiy  out  of  the  very 
abjectness  and  degradation  of  his  antagonists.* 

The  Beauchamp  Toiver  has  a  most  minute  individual  history  written 
upon  its  sides.  It  has  been  fancifully  said  that  "  walls  have  cars."  The 
walls  of  the  prison-lodgings  in  the  Tower,  however,  bear  more  direct 
testimony  of  their  former  occupants;  for  here  the  thoughts,  sorrows, 
and  sufi'crings  of  many  a  noble  soul,  crushed  spirit,  are  literally  cut 


VolmaHS  Alagatittt, 


and  its  Memories.  2/ 

in  stone.  The  Beauchamp  Tower  has  many  i-ecords  presen-ed  of 
noteworthy  persons  conlined  upon  its  walls;  but  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  several  of  these  records  have  been  removed  from  the  rooms  where 
they  were  incised,  so  that  the  interest  of  the  locality  is  marred.  This 
towei-  originally  derived  its  name  from  Thomas  de  Beauchamp,  Earl 
of  Warwick,  who  was  imprisoned  here  in  1397.  It  consists  of  three 
apartments,  one  above  the  other,  besides  a  few  small  passages  and  cells; 
and  in  the  ground-floor  chamber  have  been  discovered  in  the  stonework 
secret  passages  for  listening  spies.  This  room  is  partly  below  the 
ground,  and  must  have  been  a  dismal  place  of  imprisonment.  A  cir- 
cular staircase  leads  to  the  other  apartments,  in  which  have  been  con- 
fined so  many  eminent  persons.  Many  of  these  have  here  endeavoured 
to  shorten  the  tedious  hours  by  records  on  the  stone  walls,  of  their 
names  and  sentiments ;  and  hard  must  be  the  heart  which  could  look 
unmoved  at  many  of  the  memorials :  they  have  been  cleansed  by  an  in- 
genious chemical  process  from  dirt  and  paint.  During  this  operation 
many  new  names  have  been  brought  to  light  which  have  been  for  long 
hidden  fiom  plaster,  &:c.  Amongst  these  is  a  sculptured  rebus — a  bell 
inscribed  TA.  and  Thomas  above,  the  memorial  of  Dr.  Abel,  chaplain 
to  Queen  Catherine  of  Arragon.  Thomas  Abel  was  a  man  of  learning,' 
a  great  master  of  instrumental  music,  and  well  skilled  in  modem  lan- 
guages. He  was  introduced  at  Court,  and  he  became  domestic  chaplain 
to  Queen  Catherine  of  Arragon,  wife  of  Henry  VIII.  When  the 
validity  of  their  marriage  became  a  question,  the  affection  which  Dr. 
Abel  bore  towards  his  mistress,  led  him  into  the  controversy  to  which 
It  gave  rise,  and  he  opposed  the  divorce  both  by  words  and  writings. 
By  giving  in  to  the  delusion  of  the  "  Holy  Maid  of  Kent"  he  incurred 
a  misprision,  and  was  afterwards  condemned  and  executrd  in  Smithfield, 
together  with  others,  for  denying  the  K'ng's  supremacy,  and  affirming 
his  marriage  with  Queen  Catherine  to  be  valid.  Couplets,  maxima, 
allegories,  and  spiritual  truths  are  soinetimes  added. 

Another  sculptuiv,  a  kneeling  figure,  portrays  Robert  Bainbridge, 
who  was  imprisoned  for  writing  a  letter  offensive  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 
"Thomas  Talbot,  I462,"  is  the  oldest  inscription  which  has  been  found 
in  the  prison:  Talbot  was  here  in  1464;  he  had  kept  Henry  VI  pri- 
soner at  W^addington  Hall,  in  Lancashire. 

In  the  State  Prison  room  is  lANE.  lANE,  cut  in  letters  of  Eliza- 
bethan character,  which  attract  more  attention  from  visitors  than 
memorials  of  more  elaborate  design  and  execution.  These  letters 
are  supposed  to  have  been  cut  by  Lord  Guildford  Dudley,  as  a 
solace,  when  he  was  confined  in  a  separate  prison  from  his  unhappy 


28  The  Tozi'cr,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison, 

wife.  This  is  the  only  memorial  preserved  of  Lady  Jane  Grey  in  the 
Tower. 

One  of  the  most  elaborate  devices  is  that  of  John  Dvdle,  Earl  of 
"Warwick,  tried  and  condemned  in  1553  for  endeavouring  to  deprive 
Mai-y  of  the  crown ;  but  being  reprieved,  he  died  in  his  prison-room, 
where  he  had  wrought  upon  the  wall  his  family's  cognizance,  the  lion, 
and  bear  and  ragged  staff,  underneath  which  is  his  name ;  the  whole 
surrounded  by  oak-sprigs,  roses,  geraniums,  honeysuckles,  emblematic 
of  the  Chi'istian  names  of  his  four  brothers,  as  appeal's  from  this  un- 
finished inscription: — 

"  Yow  that  these  beasts  do  wel  behold  and  se, 
May  deme  with  ease  wherefore  here  made  they  be 
Withe  borders  eke  wherein  (there  may  be  found) 
4  brothers'  names,  who  list  to  serche  the  grovnd." 

The  names  of  the  four  brothers  were  Ambrose,  Robert,  Guildford,  and 
Henry:  thus,  A,  acorn;  R,  rose;  G,  geranium;  H,  honeysuckle:  others 
think  the  rose  indicates  Ambrose,  and  the  oak  Robert  (robur).  In 
another  part  is  carved  an  oak-tree  bearing  acorns,  signed  R.D. ;  the 
work  of  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester. 

The  following  apophthegms  are  curious  :  "  I  hs  1571,  die  10  Aprilis, 
Wise  men  ought  circumspectly  to  see  what  they  do,  to  examine  before 
they  speake,  to  prove  before  thsy  take  in  hand,  to  beware  whose  com- 
pany they  use,  and  above  all  things,  to  whom  they  truste.  Charles 
Bailly."  Another  of  Bailly's  apophthegms  is :  "  The  most  vnhapy  man 
in  the  world  is  he  that  is  not  pacient  in  adversities ;  for  men  are  not  killed 
with  the  adversities  they  have,  but  with  yc  impacience  which  they  svfl'cr." 

Here  are  several  devices  of  the  Pevcrils,  on  a  crucifix  bearing  a 
heart,  wheatshcaves,  a  portrait,  initials,  &c.  A  reference  to  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  novels  of  the  Fortunes  of  Nigel  and  Peverll  of  the  Peak, 
shows  that  their  distinguished  author  had  ntade  himself  acquainted  with 
the  various  portions  of  the  Tower.  The  lower  right-hand  inscription 
is  one  of  several  bearing  the  name  of  Peveril.  The  whcatsheaves  are 
the  armorial  bearings  of  the  Peverils  of  Derbyshire.  Scott  doubtless 
found  these  stones  very  suggestive.  The  room,  above  the  entrance  of 
the  HIcody  Tower,  in  which  the  young  Princes  are  said  to  have  been 
murdered  by  Richard  IIL,  agrees  with  the  accoiuit  of  the  place 
of  meeting  between  George  Heriot,  his  god- daughter,  and  Nigel. 
There  is  here  a  secret  closet  near  the  roof,  of  no  arming  use,  except  to 
conceal  an  observer  from  the  prisoners,  which  may  have  aflbrdcd  i\m 
idea  of  the  "  lug"  in  which  James  1.  ensconced  himself 

Tbcac  inscriptiuuB  tell  their  own  sad  stmicii :— 


and  its  Memories.  29 

*'  O  .  Lord  .  whic  .  art  .  of .  heavn  .  King  .  Graunt  .  gras  .  and  .  lytc . 

everiaatig  .  to  .  Miagh  .  thy  .  servant  .  in  .  prison  .  alon  .  with  «  »  *  • 

Tomas  Miagh."     Again: — 

"Thomas  Miagh,  whiche  lieth  here  alon, 
That  fayne  wovld  from  hens  be  gon, 
By  tortyre  straunge  mi  troth  was 
tryed,  yet  of  my  libertie  denied.     15S1,  Thomas  Myagh.'' 

He  was  a  prisoner  for  treason,  tortured  with  Skevington's  irons  and  the 

rack.* 

"  Thomas  Willyngar,  goldsmithe.     My  hart  is  yours  tel  dethe."     By 

the  side  is  a  figure  of  a  bleeding  "  hart,"  and  another  of  "  dethe ;"  and 

"T.  W."  and  "P.  A." 

"Thomas  Rose, 
Within  this  Tower  strong 
Kept  close 
By  those  to  whom  he  did  no  wrong.     May  8th,  1666." 

"J.  C.  1538."  "  Leame  to  feare  God."  "  Reprens  .  le  .  sage  et . 
il .  te  .  armera. — Take  wisdom,  and  he  shall  arm  you." 

The  memorial  of  Thomas  Salmon,  1623,  now  let  into  the  wall  of  the 
middle  room,  was  formerly  in  the  upper  prison-lodging :  it  records  a 
long  captivity,  and  consists  of  a  shield  suiTOunded  by  a  circle ;  above 
the  circle  the  name  "  T.  Salmon;"  a  crest  formed  of  three  salmons,  and 
the  date  1622  ;  underneath  the  circle  the  motto  Nee  temere,  nee  timore 
•—"  Neither  rashly,  nor  with  fear."    Also  a  star  containing  the  abbrevia- 


•  Torture  was  never  allowed  by  the  laws  of  England,  but  it  was  inflicted  in 
England  from  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  to  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  both  inclusive, 
by  virtue  of  what  was  then  considered  the  royal  prerogative,  which  at  that  period 
was  also  considered  to  be  above  the  law.  No  earlier  torture  warrants  have  been 
discovered  than  the  reign  of  Henry  VHI.  Mr.  Jardine,  the  Recorder  of  Bath, 
has  shown  fifty  instances  of  the  infliction  of  torture.  In  5Jcotland,  torture  was 
allowed  by  law  until  its  abolition  at  the  Union  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  ;  and 
the  last  torture  warrant,  stated  to  be  signed  with  the  sign  manual  of  King 
William  III.,  is  dated  at  Kensington  Palace,  and  is  for  the  torturing  of  Norvill 
Pain.  With  the  form  of  that  terrible  instrument  of  torture — the  Rack — we  are 
familiar  from  the  plates  to  the  early  editions  of  Foxe's  "  Book  of  Martyrs." 

Dr.  Lingard,  in  his  account  of  the  different  kinds  of  torture  used  in  the  Tower 
in  the  times  of  the  Tudors,  says: — "A  fourth  kind  of  torture  was  a  cell  called 
'  Little  Ease. '  It  was  of  so  small  dimensions  and  so  constructed  that  the  prisoner 
could  neither  stand,  sit,  nor  lie  in  it  at  full  length.  He  was  compelled  to  draw 
himself  up  in  a  squatting  posture,  and  so  remained  during  several  days.'  Randie 
Holme  tells  us  there  was  a  similar  place  ac  Chester,  where  it  was  used  for  the 
punishment  of  petty  offences.  In  the  House  of  Correction  is  a  place  cut  into  a 
rock,  with  a  grate-door  before  it ;  into  this  place  are  put  renegadoes,  appren- 
tices, &c.,  that  disobey  their  parents  and  masters,  robbers  of  orchards,  and  such 
like  rebellious  youths  ;  in  which  they  can  neither  stand,  sit,  kneel,  nor  lie  down, 
tut  be  all  in  a  ruck,  or  knit  together,  so  and  in  such  a  lamentable  condition, 
that  half  an  hour  will  tame  the  stoutest  and  stubbomest  stomach,  and  will  make 
him  have  a  desire  to  be  freed  from  the  place.'  " 


^O  The  Tower,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison, 

tioii  of  Christ  in  Greek,  sun-ounded  by  the  sentence,  Sic  vive  vt  vivas  — 
"  So  live  that  thou  mayst  live."  In  the  opposite  comer  arc  the  words, 
Et  morire  tie  morieris — "  And  die  that  thou  mayst  die  not."  Surround- 
ing a  representation  of  Death's  head,  above  the  device,  is  the  enumera- 
tion of  Salmon's  confinement :  "  Close  prisoner  8  moneths,  32  wekes — 
224  dayes,  5376  houres." 

On  the  ground-floor  is  "  Robait  Dudley."  He  was  the  third  son  of 
John  Dudley  Duke  of  Northumberland,  who  was  beheaded  on  Tower 
Hill  in  1553,  for  high  treason.  At  his  death  his  sons  were  still  left  in 
confinement ;  Robert  was,  in  1554,  airaigned  in  Guildhall  for  high 
treason,  and  condemned  to  be  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered.  He  lay 
under  this  sentence  till  the  following  year,  when  he  and  his  brothers  were 
liberated  by  command  of  Queen  Mary,  and  afterwards  rose  in  high 
favour  at  Court.    On  the  ground-floor,  also,  is  this  significant  couplet: 

"  The  man  whom  this  house  cannot  mend, 
Hath  evil  becom,  and  worse  will  end." 

Sir  "Walter  Raleigh's  prison  was  the  two  upper  chambers. 

One  of  the  most  striking  personages  amongst  the  foreign  prisoners  was 
Charles  of  Orleans,  the  brave  soldier  and  poet-prince,  who  was  captured 
at  Agincourt,  and  remained  prisoner  in  the  Tower  five-and-twenty 
years.  Mr.  Dixon,  availing  himself  of  a  copy  of  the  Prince's  French 
Poems,  nobly  illuminated,  in  the  MS.  department  of  the  British  Museum, 
tates  that  one  of  the  di-awings  in  this  MS.  is  of  peculiar  interest:  in  the 
first  place,  as  being  the  oldest  -viriv  of  the  Toiver  extant ;  in  the  second 
place,  as  fixing  the  exact  chamber  in  the  \\  hite  Tower  in  which  the 
poet  was  confined,  and  displaying  dramatically  the  life  which  he  led. 
Virst,  we  see  the  Prince  at  his  desk,  composing  his  poems,  with  his  gen- 
tlemen in  attendance,  and  his  guards  on  duty.  Next,  we  observe  him 
on  a  window-sill,  looking  outwards  into  space.  Then  we  have  him  at 
the  foot  of  the  White  Tower,  embracing  the  messenger  who  brings  him 
the  ransom.  Again,  we  see  him  mounting  his  horse.  Then  we  have 
him  and  his  friendly  messenger  riding  away  from  the  Tower.  Lastly, 
he  is  seated  in  a  barge,  which  lusty  rowers  are  pulling  down  the  stream 
for  the  boat  which  is  to  carry  hin\  to  France. 
'^"^  It  is  coiimonly  stated  that  the  Beaucbamp  Tow<rr  was  formeriy  the 
place  of  confinement  for  state  prisoners,  and  that  Sir  William  Wallace 
and  Queen  Anne  Holeynwcre  amongst  its  inmates.  Mr.  Sidney  Gibson, 
however,  maintains  there  to  be  "  no  historical  authority  for  saying  that 
the  Scottish  hero  was  ever  confined  in  tiie  Tower  of  London  ;  and  it 
seems  certain  that  the  unfortunate  Queen  was  a  prisoner  in  the  royal 
apartments,  which  were  in  a  different  part  of  the    iorUesa."    Mr 


and  its  Memories.  %\ 

Gibson  proceeds  to  show  that  when  Wallace  was  taken,  and  conducted 
to  London,  he  was  lodged  in  the  house  of  a  citizen  in  Fenchurch- 
street,  and  next  brought  on  horseback  to  Westminster,  and  in  tlie  Great 
Hall  was  impeached ;  and  Plolinshed  says,  *  condemed  and  thereupon 
hanged'  at  Smithfield  ;  so  that  '  he  never  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower.' 
Queen  Anne  Boleyn  occupied  the  royal  apartments  while  she  was 
prisoner  here ;  Speed  states  that  she  continued  to  occupy  the  same 
apartments  after  she  was  condemned  to  death ;  and  was  beheaded  on 
"the  Green  by  the  White  Tower." 

The  economy  of  the  Tower  as  a  state  prison  presents  a  strange  con- 
trast with  its  magnificence  as  a  royal  palace.  "  The  case  of  Sir  Henry 
Wyat,"  says  Mr.  Hepworth  Dixon,  in  a  paper  read  by  him  to  the 
Archaeological  Institute,  "father  of  the  wit,  poet,  and  courtier.  Sir 
Thomas  Wyat,  takes  us  back  to  the  latter  days  of  the  Red  and  White 
Roses.  Wyat  was  a  Lancastrian  in  politics,  and  under  the  reign  of 
Richard  the  Third  he  spent  not  a  little  of  his  time  in  the  Tower."  The 
Wyat  Papers  say — "  He  was  imprisoned  often ;  once  in  a  cold  and 
narrow  tower,  where  he  had  neither  bed  to  lie  on,  nor  clothes  suflicient 
to  warm  him,  nor  meat  for  his  mouth.  He  had  starved  there  had  not 
God,  who  sent  a  crow  to  feed  his  prophet,  sent  this  and  his  country's 
martyr  a  cat  both  to  feed  and  to  warm  him.  It  was  his  own  relation 
unto  them  from  whom  I  had  it.  A  cat  came  one  day  down  into  the 
dungeon  unto  him,  and  as  it  were  offered  herself  unto  him.  He  wat 
glad  of  her,  laid  her  in  his  bosom  to  warm  him,  and,  by  making  much 
of  her  won  her  love.  After  this  she  would  come  every  day  unto  him 
divers  times,  and,  when  she  could  get  one,  brinj  him  a  pigeon.  He 
complained  to  his  keeper  of  his  cold  and  short  fare.  The  answer  was, 
•  he  durst  not  better  it.' — '  But,'  said  Sir  Henry,  '  if  I  can  provide  any, 
will  you  promise  to  dress  it  for  me  ?' — '  I  may  well  enough,'  said  he, 
the  keeper,  '  you  arc  safe  for  that  matter ;  and  being  urged  again,  pro- 
mised him,  and  kept  his  promise,  dressed  tor  him,  from  time  to  time, 
such  pigeons  as  his  iccator  the  cat  provided  for  him.  Sir  Henry  Wyat 
in  his  prosperity  foi  this  would  ever  make  much  of  cats,  as  other  men 
will  of  their  spaniels  or  hounds ;  and  perhaps  you  shall  not  find  his 
picture  anywhere  but,  like  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  with  his  dog,  with  a 
cat  beside  him.'  The  prisoner  had  this  faithful  cat  painted,  with 
a  pigeon  in  his  paws,  offering  it  through  the  grated  window  of  his 
dungeon." 

By  way  of  relief  to  our  gloomy  chronicle,  we  conclude  with  a  nar- 
rative of  a  strange  incident,  which  Samuel  Pepys  has  recorded  in  his 
D'tan:   "October  30,  1663.     To  my  Lord   Sandwich,  who  was    ia 


33  The  Tower,  Fortress,  Palace,  and  Prison. 

his  chamber  all  alone,  and  did  inform  me  that  our  oM  acquaintance, 
Mr.  Wade,  hath  discovered  to  him  7000/.  hid  in  the  Tower,  of  which 
he  was  to  have  two  for  the  discovery,  my  Lord  two,  and  the  King  the 
Dther  three,  when  it  was  found  ;  and  that  the  King's  warrant  to  search, 
runs  for  me  and  one  Mr.  Lee.  So  we  went,  and  the  guard  at  the 
Tower-gate  making  me  leave  my  sword,  I  was  forced  to  stay  so  long  at 
the  alehouse  close  by,  till  my  boy  run  home  for  my  cloak.  Then 
walked  to  Minchen  Lane,  and  got  from  Sir  H.  Bonnet,  the  King's 
warrant,  for  the  paying  of  2000/,  to  my  Lord,  and  other  two  of  the 
discoverers.  (This  does  not  agree  with  the  first  statement  as  to  sharing 
the  money.)  After  dinner  we  broke  the  matter  to  the  Lord  Mayor, 
who  did  not,  and  durst  not,  appear  the  least  averse  to  it.  So  Lee  and  I 
and  Mr.  Wade  were  joined  by  Evett,  the  guide,  ^^''.  Griffin,  and  a 
porter  with  pickaxes.  Coming  to  the  Tower,  our  guide  demands  a 
candle,  and  down  into  the  cellars  he  goes.  He  went  into  several  little 
cellars  and  then  out  of  doors  to  view,  but  none  did  answer  so  well  to 
the  marks  as  one  arched  vault,  where,  after  much  talk,  to  digging  wc 
went,  till  almost  eight  o'clock  at  night,  but  could  find  nothing ;  yet  the 
guides  were  not  discouraged.  Locking  the  door,  we  left  for  the  night, 
and  up  to  the  Deputy-Governor,  and  he  do  undertake  to  keep  the  key, 
that  none  shall  go  down  without  his  privity.  November  ist.  To  the 
Tower  to  make  one  triall  more,  where  we  staid  several  hours,  and  dug 
a  great  deal  under  the  arches,  but  we  missed  of  all,  and  so  went  away 
the  second  time  like  fools.  To  the  Dolphin  Tavern.  Met  Wade  and 
Evett,  who  do  say  that  they  had  it  from  Barkestead's  own  mouth.  He 
did  much  to  convince  me  that  there  is  good  ground  for  what  he  goes 
about.  November  4th.  Mr.  Lee  and  I  to  the  Tower  to  make  our  third 
attempt  upon  the  cellar.  A  woman,  Barkestead's  confidante,  was  pri- 
vately brought,  who  do  positively  say  that  this  is  the  place  where  the  said 
money  was  hid,  and  where  he  and  she  did  put  up  the  700c/.  in  butter 
firkins.  We,  full  of  hope,  did  resolve  to  dig  all  over  the  cellar,  which, 
by  seven  o'clock  at  night  we  performed.  At  noon  we  sent  for  a  dinner, 
di::ed  mcnily  on  the  head  of  a  barrel,  and  to  work  again.  But,  at  last, 
having  dug  the  cellar  quite  through,  removing  the  b.irrels  from  one  side 
to  the  other,  we  were  forced  to  pay  our  porters,  and  give  over  our  ex- 
pectations, though,  I  do  believe,  there  must  be  money  hid  somewhere." 
Under  December  17th,  we  read: — "This  morning  come  Lee,  Wade, 
and  Evett,  intending  to  have  gone  upon  our  new  design  upon  the 
Tower,  but  it  raining,  and  the  work  being  to  be  done  in  the  open 
garden,  we  put  it  off  to  Friday  next."  Such  is  the  last  we  hear  of  thia 
odd  affair 


33 


Legendary  Stories  and  Ballads  of  Old  London  Bridge! 

In  a  singularly  curious,  although  probably  fabulous  tract,  the  building 
of  St.  Mary  Overie's  Church,  in  Southwark,  and  of  the  first  London 
Bridge,  is  attributed  to  the  daughter  of  John  Overs,  who  rented  of  the 
City  a  ferry  across  the  Thames  at  this  spot,  and  thus  grew  rich,  by 
which  means  his  daughter  was  enabled  to  construct  the  church  and  the 
bridge,  whilst  Overs  lost  his  life  by  his  own  covetousness.  Though  he 
kept  several  servants  and  apprentices,  he  was  of  so  parsimonious  a  soul, 
that  notwithstanding  he  possessed  an  estate  equal  to  that  of  the  best 
Aldennan  of  London,  acquired  by  unceasing  labour,  frugality,  and  in- 
dustry, yet  his  habit  and  dwelling  were  both  strangely  expressive  of  the 
most  miserable  poverty.  He  had  an  only  daughter,  "of  a  beautiful 
aspect,"  says  the  tract,  "and  a  pious  disposition ;  whom  he  had  care  to 
see  well  and  liberally  educated,  though  at  the  cheapest  rate  ;  and  yet  so, 
that  when  she  grew  ripe  and  mature  for  mairiage,  he  would  suffer  no 
man  of  what  condition  or  quality  soever,  by  his  goodwill,  to  have  any 
sight  of  her,  much  less  access  to  her."  A  young  gallant,  however,  who 
seems  to  have  thought  more  of  being  the  Ferryman's  heir  than  his  son- 
in-law,  took  the  opportunity,  while  he  was  engaged  at  the  ferry,  to  be 
admitted  into  her  company.  "  The  first  interview,"  says  the  story, 
"  pleased  well ;  the  second  better ;  the  third  concluded  the  match 
between  them." 

"  In  all  this  long  interim,  the  poor  silly  rich  old  FerryTnan,  not 
dreaming  of  any  such  passages,  but  thinking  all  things  to  be  as  secure 
by  land  as  he  knew  they  were  by  water,"  continued  his  former  wretched 
and  penurious  course  of  life.  To  save  the  expense  of  one  day's  food  in 
his  family,  he  formed  a  scheme  to  feign  himself  dead  for  twenty-four 
hours,  in  the  vain  expectation  that  his  ser\'ants  would,  out  of  propriety, 
fast  until  after  his  funeral.  Having  procured  his  daughter  to  consent  to 
this  plot,  even  against  her  better  nature,  he  was  put  into  a  sheet,  and 
stretched  out  in  his  chamber,  having  one  taper  burning  at  his  head  and 
another  at  his  feet,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  time  When, 
however,  his  servants  were  informed  of  his  decease,  instead  of  lamenting 
they  were  overjoyed,  and,  having  danced  round  the  body,  they  broke 
open  his  larder,  and  fell  to  banqueting.  The  Ferryman  bore  all  this  as 
long,  and  as  much  like  a  dead  man,  as  he  was  able ;  "  but  when  he 
could  endure  it  no  longer,"  says  the  tract,  "  stirring  and  struggling  in 
his  sheet,  like  a  ghost  with  a  candle  in  each  hand,  he  purposed  to  rise 
up,  and  rate  'em  for  their  sauciness  and  boldness ;  when  one  of  them 


34  Legendary  Stories  and  Ballads  cf 

thinking  that  the  Devil  was  about  to  rise  in  his  Hkeness,  being  in  a  great 
amaze,  catched  hold  of  the  butt-end  of  a  broken  oar,  which  was  in  the 
chamber,  and  being  a  sturdy  knave,  thinking  to  kill  the  Devil  at  the  first 
blow,  actually  struck  out  his  brains."  It  is  added  that  the  servant  was 
acquitted,  and  the  ferryman  made  accessary  and  cause  of  his  own  death. 

The  estate  of  Overs  then  fell  to  his  daughter,  and  her  lover  hearing 
of  it,  hastened  up  from  the  country ;  but,  in  riding  post,  his  horse 
stumbled,  and  he  broke  his  neck  on  the  highway.  The  young  heiress 
was  almost  distracted  at  these  events,  and  was  recalled  to  her  faculties 
only  by  having  to  provide  for  her  father's  interment ;  for  he  was  not 
permitted  to  have  Christian  burial,  being  considered  as  an  excommuni- 
cated man,  on  account  of  his  extortions,  usury,  and  truly  miserable  life. 
The  Friars  of  Bermondsey  Abbey  were,  however,  prevailed  upon,  by 
money,  their  Abbot  being  then  away,  to  give  a  little  earth  to  the  remains 
of  the  wretched  Ferryman.  But,  upon  the  Abbot's  return,  observing  a 
grave  which  had  been  recently  covered  in,  and  learning  who  lay  there, 
he  was  not  only  angry  with  his  monks  for  having  done  such  an  injury 
to  the  Church  for  the  sake  of  gain,  but  he  also  had  the  body  taken  up 
again,  laid  on  the  back  of  his  own  ass,  and  turning  the  animal  out  of 
the  Abbey  gates,  desired  of  God  that  he  might  carry  him  to  some  place 
where  he  best  deserved  to  be  buried.  The  ass  proceeded  with  a  gentle 
and  solemn  pace  through  Kent-street,  and  along  the  highway,  to  the 
small  pond  once  called  St.  Thomas-a- Waterings,  then  the  common 
place  of  execution,  and  shook  off  the  Ferryman's  body  directly  under 
the  gibbet,  where  it  was  put  into  the  ground  without  any  kind  of 
ceremony.  Mary  Overs,  extremely  distressed  by  such  a  host  of  troubles, 
and  desirous  to  be  free  from  the  numerous  suitors  for  her  hand  and 
fortune,  resolved  to  retire  into  a  cloister,  which  she  shortly  afterwards 
did,  having  first  provided  for  the  building  of  the  church  of  Saint  Mary 
Overies,  which  commemorates  her  name. 

Stow  attributes  the  building  of  the  first  Wooden  Bridge  over  the 
Thames  to  the  pious  brothers  of  the  Priory,  and  this  on  the  authority 
of  Linstcd,  the  last  Prior  of  St.  Marie  Overies,  who,  on  surrendering  his 
Priory,  at  the  Dissolution,  had  a  pension  assigned  him  of  loo/.  per 
annum,  which  he  enjoyed  until  I5,r;3.  Stow's  words  are: — "  A  Ferry 
being  kept  in  the  place  where  a  Bridge  is  built,  the  Ferryman  and  his 
wife  deceasing,  left  the  said  Ferry  to  their  only  Dauglitcr,  a  maiden 
named  Mary ;  which,  with  the  goods  left  her  by  her  Parents,  as  also 
with  tlie  profits  rising  out  of  the  said  Fcny,  built  a  House  of  Sisters  in 
the  place  where  now  standcth  the  east  part  of  St.  Mary  Overie's  church, 
above  the  Choir,  where  she  wab  buried.    Unto  which  house  she  gave 


Old  London  Bridge.  35 

the  oversight  and  profits  of  the  Ferry.  But  after\vards,  the  said 
House  of  Sisters  being  converted  into  a  College  of  Priests,  the  Priests 
built  the  Bridge  of  Timber;  but  this  story  is  much  opposed  by 
antiquaries. " 

The  nurse's  ballad,  with  which  we  are  all  familiar,  tells  of  the  con- 
nexion of  the  River  Lee  and  London  Bridge.  It  is  thought  to  be  of 
some  very  ancient  date,  when  London  Bridge,  lying  in  ruins,  the  office 
of  Bridge-master  was  vacant ;  and  his  power  over  the  River  Lee— for 
it  is,  doubtless,  that  river  which  is  celebrated  in  the  chorus  to  this  song — 
was  for  a  while  at  an  end. 

"  London  Bridge  is  broken  down. 
Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lee  ; 
London  Bridge  is  broken  down, 
With  a  gay  lady. 

How  shall  we  build  it  up  again? 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lee ; 
How  shall  we  build  it  up  again? 

With  a  gay  lady. 

Silver  and  gold  will  be  stolen  away, 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lee ; 
Silver  and  gold  will  be  stolen  away. 

With  a  gay  lady. 

Build  it  up  with  iron  and  steel. 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lee ; 
Build  it  up  with  iron  and  steel. 

With  a  gay  lady. 

Iron  and  steel  will  bend  and  bow, 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lee ; 
Iron  and  steel  will  bend  and  bow. 

With  a  gay  lady. 

Build  it  up  with  wood  and  clay. 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lee ; 
Build  it  up  with  wood  and  clay. 

With  a  gay  lady. 

Wood  and  clay  will  wash  away, 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lee ; 
Wood  and  clay  will  wash  away. 

With  a  gay  lady. 

Build  it  up  with  stone  so  strong. 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lee ; 
Huzza !  'twill  last  for  ages  long, 

With  a  gay  lady." 

Another  copy  of  this  ballad  contains  the  following  stanzas,  coming  in 
immediately  after  the  third  verse,  "Silver  and  gold  will  be  stolen 
away ;"  though  the  propositions  for  building  this  bridge  with  iron  and 

P  2 


2,6  Legendary  Stories  and  Ballads  of 

steel,  and  wood  and  stone,  have,  in  this  copy  also,  ah-eady  been  made 

and  objected  to. 

"Then  we  must  set  a  man  to  watch, 
Dance  o'er  my  Lady  I^a ; 
Then  we  must  set  a  man  to  watch, 
With  a  gay  La-dee. 

Suppose  the  man  should  fall  asleep, 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lea ; 
Suppose  the  man  should  fall  asleep, 

With  a  gay  La-dee. 

Then  we  must  put  a  pipe  in  his  mouth, 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lea ; 
Then  we  must  put  a  pipe  in  his  mouth. 

With  a  gay  La-dee. 

Suppose  the  pipe  should  fall  and  break, 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lea ; 
Suppose  the  pipe  should  fall  and  break. 

With  a  gay  La-dee. 

Then  we  must  set  a  dog  to  watch, 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  I^ea; 
Then  we  must  set  a  dog  to  watch 

With  a  gay  La-dee. 

Suppose  the  dog  should  run  away. 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lea ; 
Suppose  the  dog  should  run  away. 

With  a  gay  La-dee. 

Then  we  must  chain  him  to  a  post. 

Dance  o'er  my  Lady  Lea ; 
Then  we  must  chain  him  to  a  post, 

With  a  gay  La-dee." 

The  Bridge  of  wood  was  succeeded  by  one  of  stone,  begun  about 
1 176,  by  Peter  of  Colechurch.  This  worthy  ecclesiastic  and  architect 
was  priest  and  chaplain  of  St.  Mary  Colechurch,  in  the  Poultry,  and 
London  Bridge  seems  to  have  been  the  favourite  object  of  his  care ;  for 
he  is  said  to  have  built  the  new  bridge  of  elm-timber,  which  was  erected 
in  1 163,  and  to  have  begun,  a  little  to  the  west  of  that  structure,  in 
1 176,  the  stone  bridge  above  named  ;  but  he  dying  in  120.:^,  the  bridge 
was  completed  five  years  after.  King  John  was  anxious  for  the  com- 
pletion of  the  Bridge,  and  in  1201,  recommended  to  the  Mayor  and 
citizens  for  that  purpose,  Isenbert,  master  of  the  schools  of  Saintes, 
who  had  built  the  bridges  of  Saintes  and  Rochelle.  The  sovereign  granted 
that  the  profits  of  the  edifices  which  Isenbeit  intended  to  erect  on  the 
briilge  should  be  for  ever  applied  to  its  rejiair  ;  and  the  King  exhorted 
the  Mayor  and  citizens  to  receive  Isenbert  and  his  assistants  courteously. 
Mr,  Sidney  Gibson  remarks  that  "  King  John's  desire  for  the  comple« 


Old  London  Bridge.  37 

tion  of  London  Bridge,  and  his  recommendation  of  Isenbert  for  tliat 
purpose  during  the  lifetime  of  Peter  of  Colechurch,  are  facts  little  known 
to  general  readers."  ^Ve  should  add  that  the  remains  of  Peter  of  Cole- 
church  were  buried  in  the  crypt  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canter- 
bury, within  a  pier  of  the  stone  bridge,  which  lasted  till  our  time ;  and 
in  1832,  when  the  last  of  the  bridge  was  removed,  the  bones  of  the 
architect  Peter  were  found  beneath  the  masonry  of  the  chapel,  as  if  to 
complete  the  eventful  history  of  the  ancient  structure.  A  portion  of  the 
stone  was  purchased  by  Alderman  Hiimphery,  and  by  him  sold  to 
Alderman  Harmer,  who  employed  it  in  building  his  seat,  Ingress  Abbey, 
at  Greenhithe,  in  Kent. 

The  old  Bridge  was  the  scene  of  many  penances.  In  the  year 
1440,  the  Bridge-street,  by  which  is  meant  as  well  the  passage  over 
the  Thames  ae  the  main  street  beyond  it  on  each  side,  was  one 
scene  of  the  public  penances  of  Eleanor  Cobham,  Duchess  of  Glou- 
cester, on  the  very  grave  charge  of  having  practised  necromantic  rites, 
in  conjunction  with  other  persons,  in  order  to  procure  the  death 
of  the  King.  Being  convicted,  she  was  sentenced  to  a  severe  public 
penance,  and  banishment  for  life  to  the  Isle  of  Man  ;  but  was  afterward* 
imprisoned  in  the  castles  of  Chester  and  Kenilworth.  One  of  the 
alleged  accomplices  of  the  Duchess  was  Thomas  Southwell,  a  priest  and 
canon  of  St.  Stephen's,  who  died  in  the  Tower  on  the  night  before 
his  proposed  arraignment.  Roger  Bolynbroke,  "a  priest  and  great 
astronomer,"  and  Margery  Jourdemaine,  or  Gardemaine,  whom  Stow 
calls  "  a  witch  of  Eye,  besides  Westminster,"  was  implicated  with  the 
Duchess  in  the  charge  of  necromancy,  and  suffered  death,  the  former 
being  hanged  and  quartered  at  Tyburn,  and  the  latter  burnt  in  Smithfield.* 

On  November  9,  the  Duchess  was  sentenced  to  perform  penance  at 
three  open  places  in  London.  On  Monday,  the  t3th,  therefore,  she 
came  by  water  from  Westminster,  and,  landing  at  the  Temple  Bridge, 
valked,  at  noon-day,  through   Fleet-street,  bearing  a  waxen  taper  of 


*  Shakspeare,  in  Henry  IV.,  Part  II.,  introduces  the  Duchess  and  Boling* 
broke  at  their  diabolical  work : — 

"Duchess.  Well  said,  my  masters;  and  welcome  all 
To  this  geer ;  the  sooner  the  better. 

Bolin.  Patience,  good  lady;  wizards  know  their  times: 
Deep  night,  dark  night,  the  silent  of  the  night, 
The  time  of  night  when  Troy  was  set  on  fire ; 
The  time  when  screech-owls  cry,  and  ban-dogs  howl. 
And  spirits  walk,  and  ghosts  break  up  their  graven,-— 
That  time  best  fits  the  work  we  have  in  hand. 
Madam,  sit  you,  and  fear  not;  whom  we  raises 
We  will  make  fast  within  a  hallow  d  ver^je. 


38  Legendary  Stories  and  Ballads  of 

two  pounds'  weight  to  St.  Paul's,  where  she  offered  at  the  high  altar. 
On  the  Wednesday  following  she  landed  at  the  Old  Swan,  and 
passed  through  Bridge-street  and  Gracechurch-street  to  Leadenhall, 
and  at  Cree-church,  near  Aldgate,  made  her  second  offering  ;  and  on 
the  ensuing  Friday,  she  w-as  put  on  shore  at  Queen  Hythe,  whence 
she  proceeded  to  St.  Michael's  Church,  Cornhill,  and  so  completed 
her  penance.  In  each  of  these  processions  her  head  was  covered 
only  by  a  kerchief;  her  feet  were  bare ;  scrolls  containing  a  narrative 
of  her  crime  were  affixed  to  her  white  dress  ;  and  she  was  received 
and  attended  by  the  Mayor,  Sheriffs,  and  Companies  of  London. 

On  St.  George's  Day,  the  23rd  of  April,  1390,  a  solemn  jousting 
of  a  most  extraordinary  character  took  place  on  the  bridge.  John 
de  Wells,  the  English  Ambassador  in  Scotland,  having  boasted  at 
the  Scottish  Court  of  the  prowess  of  his  countrymen,  a  famous 
knight  of  that  country,  David  Lindsay,  Earl  of  Crawford,  offered  to 
put  all  questions  on  that  point  to  a  trial  by  combat  on  London 
Bridge.  By  a  royal  safe-conduct,  he  was  enabled  to  travel  to  Lon- 
don with  a  retinue  of  twenty-nine  persons.  When  the  day  of  battle 
was  come,  both  parties,  being  armed,  were  most  honourably  con- 
ducted to  the  bridge,  which  was  splendidly  decorated  with  rich 
hangings  of  tapestry  and  cloth  of  gold,  and  filled  with  noble  spec- 
tators.  King   Richard   IL   himself  being  seated  in  the  place  of 

honour. 

"  All  furnish'd,  all  in  arms  I 
All  plumed  like  estridges  that  wing  the  wind : 
Raited  like  eagles  having  lately  bathed ; 
Glittering  in  golden  coats,  like  images ; 
And  gorgeous  as  the  sun  at  midsummer, 

their  horses 
Printing  their  proud  hoofs  i"  the  receiving  earth  T 

the  combatants  approach  ;  and,  "the  signal  being  given,"  says 
Hector  Boece,  "  tearing  their  barbed  steeds  with  their  spurs,  they 
rushed,  with  square-ground  spears,  and  a  mighty  force,  impetuously 
to  the  conflict.  Neither  party  was  moved  by  the  vehement  impulse 
or  by  the  splintering  of  their  spears  ;  so  that  the  common  people 
affected  to  cry  out  that  David  was  bound  to  the  saddle  of  his  horse, 
contrary  to  the  law  of  arms,  because  he  sat  unmoved  amidst  the 
splintering  of  lances  on  his  helmet  and  visor.  When  Earl  David 
heard  this,  he  presently  leapt  off  his  charger,  and  then  as  quickly 
vaulted  upon  his  back  again  without  any  assistance  ;  and,  taking  a 
second  hasty  course,  their  spears  were  a  second  time  shivered  by 
tlie  shock  thruugh  their  burning  desire  to  conquer.     And  now 


Old  London  Bridge.  j^ 

third  time  were  the  valorous  enemies  stretched  out  and  running 
together ;  but  then  the  Enghsh  knight  was  cast  down  breathless  to 
the  earth,  with  great  sounds  of  mourning  from  his  countrymen  that 
he  was  killed  !  Earl  David,  when  victory  appeared,  leapt  suddenly 
to  the  ground^for  he  had  fought  without  anger,  and  but  for  glory, 
that  he  might  show  himself  to  be  the  strongest  of  the  champions — 
and,  casting  himself  upon  Lord  Wells,  tenderly  embraced  him  till 
he  revived,  and  the  surgeon  came  to  attend  him." 

Towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  London  Bridge  was  so 
completely  covered  with  imposing  buildings,  that  it  resembled  a 
palatial  street  rather  than  a  bridge.  The  houses,  as  a  rule,  covered 
the  whole  of  the  bridge,  and  indeed  in  many  cases  projected  to 
some  distance  over  the  pier  heads.  The  carriage  way  of  the  bridge 
in  those  days  had  the  appearance  of  a  tunnel — an  open  thoroughfare, 
sometimes  forty  feet  in  width,  running  like  an  archway  through  the 
"  ground  "  floor  of  the  bridge  houses.  One  striking  peculiarity  of 
these  houses  was  that,  unlike  other  ordinary  buildings,  each  of  their 
four  sides  was  so  to  speak  a  "  front ;"  for  the  sides  that  fronted  the 
river  east  and  west  were  generally  as  highly  decorated  as  those  that 
looked  to  Southwark  on  the  one  side  and  the  city  on  the  other. 
Perhaps  the  most  splendid  and  curious  structure  that  adorned 
London  Bridge  at  this  time  (i 580-1600)  was  the  famous  Nonsuch 
House  ;  so  called  because  it  was  constructed  in  Holland  entirely  of 
wood,  and  being  brought  over  in  pieces,  was  erected  in  this  place 
with  wooden  pegs  only,  not  a  single  nail  being  used  in  the  whole 
structure.  Its  situation  is  even  yet  pointed  out  by  the  seventh  and 
eighth  arches  of  the  bridge  from  the  Southwark  end  being  still 
called  the  Draw  Lock  and  the  Nonsuch  Lock.  On  the  London 
side  of  the  bridge,  the  Nonsuch  House  was  partly  joined  to  nu- 
merous small  wooden  buildings  of  about  twenty-seven  feet  in  depth 
which  hung  over  the  parapet  on  each  side,  leaving,  however,  a  clear 
space  of  twenty  feet  in  the  centre ;  but  over  all  these  humble  dwel- 
lings the  carved  gables,  cupolas,  and  gilded  vanes  of  the  Dutch 
edifice  proudly  towered.  Two  sun-dials  crowned  the  top  on  the 
south  side,  and  on  one  of  them  was  painted  the  appropriate  adage 
— "  Time  and  tide  stay  for  no  man." 

Like  most  other  buildings  on  London  Bridge,  this  celebrated 
house  overhung  the  east  and  west  sides  of  the  bridge,  and  presented 
to  the  Thames  two  fronts  of  scarcely  less  magnificence  than  those 
presented  to  the  city  and  borough  respectively — the  columns,  win- 
<iows,  and  carving  being  similarly  splendid.     Its   southern  front 


40  Old  London  Bridge. 

only,  however,  stood  perfectly  unconnected  with  other  erections,  and 
was  entirely  free  and  unobstructed  for  about  fifty-six  feet  in  front, 
and  presenting  the  appearance  of  a  large  building  projecting  beyond 
the  bridge  on  either  side.  At  each  extremity  was  a  square  tower 
crowned  by  short  domes  or  Kremlin  spires,  whilst  an  antiquely 
carved  gable  arose  on  each  centre.  The  whole  of  the  front,  too, 
was  ornamented  with  a  profusion  of  transom  casement  windows 
with  car\'ed  wooden  galleries  before  them ;  and  richly  sculptured 
panels  and  gilded  columns  were  to  be  found  in  every  part  of  it 
The  thoroughfare  was  carried  through  this  building  in  the  form  of 
an  archway. 

The  Bridge  shops  had  signs,  and  were  "  furnished  with  all  manner 
of  trades."  Holbein  is  said  to  have  lived  here  ;  as  did  also  Herbert, 
the  printscller,  at  the  time  the  houses  were  taken  down.  On  the 
first  night  Herbert  spent  here,  a  dreadful  fire  took  place  on  the 
banks  of  the  Thames,  which  suggested  to  him  the  plan  of  a  floating 
fire-engine,  soon  after  adopted.  "  As  fine  as  London  Bridge"  was 
formerly  a  proverb  in  the  City  ;  and  many  a  serious,  sensible  trades- 
man used  to  believe  that  heap  of  enormities  to  be  one  of  the  seven 
wonders  of  the  world,  and,  next  to  Solomon's  temple,  the  finest 
thing  that  ever  art  produced. 

The  street  was  also  the  abode  of  many  artists  :  here  lived  Peter 
Monamy,  the  marine  painter,  who  was  taught  drawing  by  a  sign 
and  house  painter  on  London  Bridge.  Dominic  Serres  once  kept 
shop  here  ;  and  Hogarth  lived  here  when  he  engraved  for  old  John 
Bowles,  in  Cornhill.  Swift  and  Pope  have  left  accounts  of  their  visits 
to  Crispin  Tucker,  a  waggish  bookseller  and  author-of-all-work, 
who  lived  under  the  southern  gate.  One  Mr.  Baldwin,  haber- 
dasher, born  in  the  house  over  the  Chapel,  at  seventy-one  could 
:iot  sleep  in  the  country  for  want  of  the  noise  of  the  roaring  and  rush- 
ing of  the  tide  beneath,  which  "  he  had  always  been  used  to  hear." 

A  most  terrific  historic  garniture  of  the  Bridge  was  the  setting 
up  of  heads  on  its  gate-houses  :  among  these  ghastly  spectacles  was 
the  head  of  Sir  William  Wallace,  1305  ;  Simon  Frisel,  1306; 
four  traitor  knights,  1397  ;  Lord  Bardolf,  1408  ;  Bolingl)roke, 
1440;  Jack  Cade  and  his  rebels,  1451;  the  Cornish  traitors 
of  1497  ;  and  of  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  1535,  displaced 
in  fourteen  days  by  the  head  of  Sir  Thomas  More.  In  1577, 
the  several  heads  were  removed  from  the  north  end  of  the 
I)rawl)ridgc  to  the  Southwark  entrance,  thence  called  Traitors 
Gate.     In    1578,  the  head  of  a  recusant   priest   was   added    to 


Bermondsey  Abbey  and  its  Memories.  41 

the  sickening  sight;  and  in  1605,  that  of  Garnet  the  Jesuit,  as  well  ai 
those  of  the  Romish  priests  executed  in  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and 
James  I.  Hentzner  counted  above  thirty  heads  on  the  Bridge  in  1598. 
The  display  was  transferred  to  Temple  Bar  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 

The  narrowness  of  the  Bridge  arches  so  contracted  the  channel  of  the 
river  as  to  cause  a  rapid ;  and  to  pass  through  them  was  termed  to 
"  shoot  the  bridge,"  a  peril  taken  advantage  of  by  suicides.  Thus,  in 
1689,  Sir  William  Temple's  only  son,  lately  made  Secretary  at  War, 
leaped  into  the  river  from  a  boat  as  it  darted  through  an  arch :  he  had 
filled  his  pockets  with  stones,  and  was  drowned,  leaving  in  the  boat  this 
note :  "  My  folly  in  undertaking  what  I  could  not  perform,  whereby 
some  misfortunes  have  befallen  the  King's  service,  is  the  cause  of  my 
putting  myself  to  this  sudden  end ;  I  wish  him  success  in  all  his  under- 
takings, and  a  better  servant."  In  1737,  Eustace  Budgell,  a  soi-disant 
cousin  of  Addison,  and  who  wrote  in  the  Spectator  and  Guardian,  when 
broken  down  in  character  and  reduced  to  poverty,  took  a  boat  at 
Somerset  Stairs ;  and  ordering  the  waterman  to  row  down  the  river, 
Budgell  threw  himself  into  the  stream  as  they  shot  London  Bridge.  He 
too  had  filled  his  pockets  with  stones,  and  rose  no  more :  he  left  in  his 
secretary  a  slip  of  paper,  on  which  was  written  a  broken  distich: 
"  What  Cato  did,  and  Addison  approved,  cannot  be  wrong."  This  is 
a  wicked  sophism  ;  there  being  as  little  resemblance  between  the  cases 
of  Budgell  and  Cato  as  there  is  reason  for  considering  Addison's  "  Cato" 
written  in  defence  of  suicide. 

Of  a  healthier  complexion  is  the  anecdote  of  Edward  Osborne,  in 
1536,  leaping  into  the  Thames  from  the  window  of  one  of  the  Bridge- 
houses,  and  saving  his  master's  infant  daughter,  dropped  by  a  nursemaid 
into  the  stream.  The  father,  Sir  William  Hewet,  was  Lord  Mayor  in 
1559,  and  gave  this  daughter  in  marriage  to  Osborne,  whose  great- 
grandson  became  the  first  Duke  of  Leeds. 


Bermondsey  Abbey  and  its  Memories. 

The  Cluniac  Abbey  of  Bermondsey,  in  the  low-lying  parish  adjoining 
Southwark,  had  at  different  times  two  visitors,  to  whom  we  may  be  sure 
every  possible  honour  was  done.  The  first  of  these  was  Katherine,  the 
wife  of  Henry  V.,  the  French  Princess  whom  Shakspeare  has  made  so 
familiar  to  us  in  connexion  with  the  blunt  wooing  of  her  gallant  lover, 
and  who  alone  perhaps,  of  all  her  country's  children,  could  have  so 
quickly  reconquered  France  from  the  concjucror  as  she  now  did  by 


42  Bermondsey  Abbey  and  its  Memoriej. 

throwing  around  him  the  nuptial  tie.  Few  marriages,  promising  so 
much  of  State  convenience,  have  ended  in  giving  so  much  individual 
happiness  as  Henry  enjoyed  with  his  young  and  beautiful  bride.  His 
early  death  was  grieved  by  all ;  his  courtiers  and  his  nobles  wept  and 
sobbed  round  his  death-bed :  what,  then,  must  have  been  her  feelings  at 
his  loss  ?  Fortunately,  perhaps,  Katherine  was  not  present  at  the  last 
moment,  nor  did  she  learn  the  dreadful  tidings  for  some  days  afterwards. 
It  was  to  receive  this  distinguished  visitor  that,  some  years  later,  the 
monks  of  Bermondsey  were  suddenly  summoned  from  all  parts  of  the 
monastery  by  the  stroke  on  one  of  the  great  bells,  twice  repeated,  who, 
suddenly  huiTying  into  the  church,  robed  themselves,  and  prepared  for 
the  reception  of  the  newcomer.  Upon  the  Queen's  neai-  approach,  two 
of  the  great  bells  would  ring  out  a  peal  of  welcome,  and  then  the  Abbot 
would  advance  to  meet  her,  saluting  her  with  his  blessing,  and  sprinkling 
holy  water  over  her.  The  procession  entered  the  church  and  made  a 
stand  before  the  crucifix,  where  the  visitor  prayed.  Service  in  honour 
of  the  Saviour,  as  the  patron  Saint,  followed ;  the  singing-boys  in  the 
choir  sang,  the  organ  played,  and  at  the  teiTnination  the  Queen  found 
the  best  accommodation  the  Abbey  could  furnish  provided  for  her  use. 
She  appears  to  have  found  all  she  desired,  for  she  remained  at  Ber- 
mondsey till  her  death.  One  little  incident  has  been  recorded  on  the 
subject  of  her  residence  here,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  caused  in 
some  way  by  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Court  at  her  second  marriage, 
with  Owen  Tudor,  a  gentleman  of  Wales,  and,  through  this  match,  the 
founder  of  the  Tudor  dynasty.  On  the  ist  of  January,  1437,  her  son, 
the  young  Henry  VI.,  sent  to  her  at  Bermondsey  a  token  of  his  affec- 
tionate remembrance,  in  the  shape  of  a  tablet  of  gold,  weighing  thirteen 
ounces,  on  which  was  a  crucifix,  set  with  sappliires  and  pearls.  She  was, 
no  doubt,  then  very  ill,  for  two  days  later  she  died. 

There  is  a  striking  connexion  between  this  and  the  next  distinguished 
visitor,  Elizabeth  of  York,  a  lady  who,  if  not  one  of  the  most  interesting 
of  female  characters  herself,  is  unquestionably  so  from  tlie  circum- 
stances of  her  strange  and  eventful  history.  She  came  to  Bermondsey 
(juitc  as  much  a  prisoner  as  a  visitor,  and  she  owed  that  imprisonment 
to  the  man  whom  she  herself  had  been  to  a  considerable  extent  the 
means  of  placing  on  the  throne,  Henry  VII.,  the  grandson  of  the  widow 
of  Henry  v.,  and  of  her  second  husband,  Owen  Tudor.  That  two 
such  women  should  meet  in  the  same  place  to  spend  the  last  years  of 
their  lives,  forms  no  ordinary  coincidence.  The  history  of  Elizabeth  of 
York,  though  but  an  episode  of  that  of  Bermondsey,  is  so  full  of 
romance,  and  so  closely  coiuiccted  with  it,  by  her  imprisonment  and 


Bermondsey  Abbey  and  its  Memories.  43 

death  within  its  walls,  that  the  ancient  priory  may  not  improbably  be 
remembered  through  these  circumstances,  when  all  others  might  else  have 
failed  to  preserve  more  than  the  barest  and  driest  recollections  of  the 
great  house  of  the  Cluniacs.  It  was  on  a  visit  to  Jaquenetta,  Duchess 
of  Bedford,  then  married  to  a  second  husband,  Sir  Richard  Woodville, 
that  Edward  IV.,  the  handsomest,  most  accomplished,  and  most 
licentious  man  of  his  time,  first  beheld  the  Duchess'  daughter,  Elizabeth 
Gray,  the  widow  of  Sir  John  Gray,  a  Lancastrian,  slain  at  the  second 
battle  of  St.  Alban's.  The  knight's  estates  had  been  forfeited  to  Edward, 
and  the  young  widow,  who  is  said  to  have  been  as  eloquent  as  she  was 
beautiful,  availing  herself  of  the  opportunity,  threw  herself  at  the  king's 
feet,  and  implored  him,  for  the  sake  of  her  innocent  and  helpless  children, 
to  reverse  the  attainder.  The  irresistible  petitioner  rose  with  more  than 
the  grant  of  what  she  had  asked — the  king's  heart  was  hers.  Edward, 
perhaps  for  the  first  time,  was  seriously  touched;  and  to  the  astonish- 
ment  of  the  nation  generally,  and  to  the  rage  of  no  small  portion  of  the 
king's  partisans,  the  Yorkists,  the  king,  some  months  after,  at  a  solemn 
assembly  of  prelates  and  nobles  in  the  ancient  abbey  of  Reading,  an- 
nounced his  marriage  with  the  widow  of  the  fallen  Lancastrian  knight ; 
and  amidst  the  surprise  which  prevailed  throughout  the  assemblage,  the 
king's  brother,  the  Duke  of  Clarence,  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  led 
the  Queen  into  the  hall,  and  caused  her  in  that  character  to  be  welcomed 
by  all  present.    Thus  ends  one  phase  of  her  history. 

In  the  next  we  behold  her  again  as  a  widow;  but  this  time  her  widow- 
hood has  brought  her  new  and  more  anxious  public  duties :  she  is  not 
merely  a  mother,  but  the  mother  of  the  young  King  Edward  V.  and 
of  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York.  Into  the  particulars  of  this  mo- 
mentous period,  which  includes  the  death  of  the  young  Princes  in  the 
Tower,  of  course,  we  are  not  about  to  enter ;  but  it  may  be  permitted 
to  us  to  obsei-ve  that  few  parents  ever  have  endured  keener  agonies  for 
their  children  than  this  unfortunate  lady.  The  wild  rumour  that  so 
quickly  floated  about  as  to  the  intentions  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  the 
sudden  shedding  of  the  blood  of  her  son  and  brother  at  Pomfret  (Lords 
Gray  and  Rivers),  the  messages  and  deputations  to  and  fro  between  the 
Protector  and  the  Sanctuary  at  Westminster,  where  she  had  taken 
refuge  with  her  youngest  son,  distracting  her  with  conflicting  thoughts — 
one  moment  giving  the  young  Prince  up  to  destruction,  the  next 
fearing  to  bring  that  destruction  on  him  by  indiscreet  jealousy,  or  by 
thwarting  Gloucester's  views — all  this  must  have  been  terrible  to  the 
lately  made  widow,  had  nothing  remained  behind.  But  when  at  last, 
calling  for  her  child,  she  delivered  him  up  to  the  Cardinal  Archbishop, 


44  Berniondsey  Abbey  and  its  Alemories. 

and  as  soon  as  she  had  done  so,  burst  into  an  uncontrollable  ft  of 
anguish,  she  but  too  rightly  felt  she  had  lost  both  her  children. 

In  the  interval,  between  the  death  of  the  Princes  and  that  of  the 
murderer,  Richard,  occurs  the  most  unromantic  part  of  the  history  of 
one  whose  misfortunes  are  unexampled  for  their  severity.  While  at 
one  period  we  find  her  eagerly  engaging  in  the  scheme  proposed  of 
marrying  the  Earl  of  Richmond  to  her  daughter  Elizabeth  ;  at  the 
other,  when  the  prospect  appeared  less  bright,  she  appeal's  to  have 
listened  to  Richard's  overtures,  first  of  marrying  her  daughter  Elizabeth 
to  his  son,  and  when  that  son  died,  of  giving  her  to  himself.  Whatever 
her  conduct  at  this  period,  there  is  no  doubt  as  to  her  subsequent  mis- 
fortunes. The  king,  Henry  VIL,  certainly  did  redeem  the  promise  as  to 
the  marriage  made  by  the  Earl  of  Richmond,  but  it  was  done  so  tardily 
and  so  ungi-aciously,  that  the  very  people  were  disgusted  at  his  conduct ; 
and  by  their  sentiments  we  may  judge  of  the  mother's.  But  this  was 
not  all.  In  the  month  of  November,  i486,  an  extensive  insurrection 
broke  out  in  Ireland,  at  the  head  of  which  was,  nominally,  a  youth  who 
it  was  pretended  was  the  Earl  of  Warwick  (then  in  reality  confined  in 
the  Tower),  the  son  of  the  late  Duke  of  C  larence,  brother  to  Edward  I V. 
A  great  council  was  immediately  held  at  the  Charter  House,  at  Shene, 
where  first  a  general  pardon  was  resolved  on,  free  from  all  excep- 
tions, and  the  second  resolution  was  (a  curious  commentary  on  the 
first)  to  arrest  Elizabeth  Woodvillc,  the  Queen  Dowager.  The  Queen 
was  immediately  arrested,  deprived  of  all  her  property,  and  placed  a 
close  prisoner  in  the  monastery  at  Bcrmondscy.  Henry's  historian, 
Bacon,  may  well  observe,  "  whereat  there  was  much  wondering  that  a 
weak  woman,  for  the  yielding  to  the  menaces  and  promises  of  a  tyrant 
[he is  alluding  to  her  transactions  with  Richard  III.],  after  such  a  dis- 
tance of  time  wherein  the  king  had  shown  no  displeasure  or  alteration, 
but  much  more  after  so  happy  a  marriage  bctwcxMi  tlie  king  and  her 
daughter,  blest  with  issue  male  [only  two  or  three  weeks  before],  should, 
upon  a  sudden  mutability  or  disclosure  of  the  king's  mind,  be  so  severely 
handled,"  for  such  it  appears  was  the  motive  for  this  arrest  set  forth  by 
the  king.  No  one,  however,  believed  in  the  truth  of  the  allegation  ;  and 
Bacon,  following  the  chronicler  Hall,  gives  a  remarkable  explanation  of 
the  afi'air.  Having  observed  that  the  prompter  of  the  young  counter- 
feit of  tlie  Earl  of  Warwick,  a  priest,  had  never  seen  the  latter,  he  con- 
tinues, "  So  it  cannot  be,  but  that  some  great  person,  that  knew  par- 
ticularly and  familiarly,  Edward  Plaiitagenet,  had  a  hand  in  the  business, 
from  whom  the  priest  might  take  aim.  That  wiiich  is  most  probable, 
out  of  the  precedent  and  subsequent  acts,  is,  that  it  was  the  Queen 


Bcrmondsey  Abbey  and  its  Memories.  45 

Dowager  from  whom  this  action  principally  originated.  For,  certain  it 
is  that  she  was  a  busy,  negotiating  woman,  and  in  her  lulthdrarjj'mg 
chamber  had  the  fortunate  conspiracy  for  the  king  against  King  Richard  III. 
been  hatched,  luhich  the  king  kneiu,  and  remembered  perhaps  but  too 
<well,  and  was  at  this  time  extremely  discontent  with  the  king,  think- 
ing her  daughter,  as  the  king  handled  the  matter,  not  advanced,  but 
depressed ;  and  none  could  hold  the  book  so  well  to  prompt  and  in- 
struct this  stage-play  as  sl^e  could."  Misfortunes  never  came  singly  to 
the  unhappy  queen ;  the  Marquis  of  Dorset,  her  son  by  her  first  hus- 
band, was  arrested  soon  after  and  thrown  into  the  Tower.  At  the 
coronation  of  the  queen,  his  half-sister,  in  the  following  year,  he  was, 
however,  released,  and  was,  v\'e  believe,  present  at  the  ceremony.  The 
mother  appears  to  have  been  still  left  to  pine  away  in  her  enforced 
solitude  at  Bermondsey,  where  she  lingered  till  1493,  when  a  fatal  ilbess 
seized  her. 

On  her  death-bed  she  dictated  the  following  pathetic  will,  which  is  of 
itself  a  decisive  answer  as  to  the  doubts  that  have  been  raised  concerning 
the  p>enury  of  her  latest  days.  It  is  dated  Bermondsey,  April  10, 
1492  : — "  I,  Elizabeth,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Queen  of  England,  late 
wife  to  the  most  victorious  prince  of  blessed  memory,  Edward  the 
Fourth,  being  of  whole  mind,  seeing  the  world  so  transitory,  and  no 
creature  certain  when  they  shall  depart  from  hence,  having  Almighty 
God  fresh  in  mind,  in  whom  is  all  mercy  and  grace,  bequeath  my 
soul  into  his  hands,  beseeching  him  of  the  same  mercy  to  accept  it 
graciously,  and  Our  Blessed  Lady  Queen  of  Comfort,  and  all  the  holy 
company  of  heaven,  to  be  good  means  (or  mediators)  for  me.  Item :  I 
bequeath  my  body  to  be  buried  with  the  body  of  my  lord  at  \\'^indsor, 
according  to  the  will  of  my  said  lord  and  mine,  without  pomps  entering 
or  costly  expenses  done  thereabout.  Item :  PVhereas  I  have  no  worldlj 
goods  to  do  the  Queen  s  Grace,  my  dearest  daughter,  a  pleasure  ivith,  neither 
to  reivard  any  of  my  children  according  to  my  heart  and  mind,  I  beseech 
Almighty  God  to  bless  her  Grace,  with  all  her  noble  issue;  and  with  as 
good  heart  and  mind  as  is  to  me  possible,  I  give  her  Grace  my  blessing, 
and  all  the  aforesaid  my  children.  Item :  I  will  that  such  small  stujff^ 
and  goods  that  I  have  be  disposed  truly  in  the  contentation  of  my  debts, 
and  for  the  health  of  my  soul,  as  far  as  they  will  extend.  Item:  If  any 
of  my  blood  will  any  of  the  said  stuff  or  goods  to  me  pertaining,  I  will 
that  they  have  the  preferment  before  any  other.  And  of  this  my  present 
testament  I  make  and  ordain  mine  executors,  that  is  to  say,  John 
Ingleby,  Prior  of  the  Charter  House  at  Shene;  William  Sulton  and 
Thomas  Brente,  Doctors;  and  I  beseech  my  dearest  daughter,  the 


46  Bermondsey  A  bbey  and  its  Memories. 

Queen's  Grace,  and  my  son,  Thomas,  Marquis  of  Dorset,  to  put  their 
good  wills  and  help  for  the  performance  of  this  my  testament." 

And  thus  closes  the  eventful  life  of  Elizabeth  of  York.  Some  thirty* 
years  ago,  when  the  workmen  were  busy  in  the  vaults  of  Windsor, 
preparing  a  place  of  sepulture  for  the  family  of  George  III.,  they  lighted 
upon  a  stone  coffin  buried  fifteen  feet  below  the  surface.  It  contained 
the  remains  of  Queen  Elizabeth  Woodville. 

Bermondsey  has  yet  another  memory  in  connexion  with  this  unfor- 
tunate queen's  persecutor,  Henry  VII.,  and  one  that  illustrates  another 
remarkable  trait  of  his  character — his  superstitious  piety.  His  masterly 
policy  was  not  often  a  very  upright  and  honourable  policy;  so,  this 
stroke  was  followed  by  the  erection  of  a  chapel,  that,  by  founding 
masses  to  be  said  evermore  for  his  soul,  he  might  keep  a  tolerably  fair 
reckoning  in  the  great  account-book  of  his  conscience.  He  is  not  the 
only  monarch  who  has  endeavoured  to  keep  an  "even  mind"  by  the 
adoption  of  a  similar  kind  of  offset.  It  appears  that  an  indenture  was 
executed  between  the  king,  the  City  of  London,  and  the  Abbots  of 
Westminster  and  Bermondsey,  sometime  after  the  death  of  his 
queen,  the  daughter  of  Queen  Elizabeth  Woodville,  by  which  the 
Abbot  and  monks  of  Westminster  were  to  pay  3/.  ds.  8d.  annually  to 
those  of  Bermondsey,  for  the  holding  of  an  anniversary  in  the  church 
on  the  6th  of  February  in  every  year,  to  pray  for  the  good  and  pros- 
perous estate  of  the  king  during  his  life,  and  the  prosperity  of  his  kingdom, 
also  for  the  souls  of  his  late  queen  and  of  their  children,  of  his  father, 
the  Earl  of  Richmond,  and  his  progenitors,  and  of  his  mother,  the 
Countess  of  Richmond,  after  her  decease.  Full  directions  are  contained 
in  the  indenture  as  to  the  mode  of  performing  the  ceremony. 

As  a  glimpse  of  what  was  sometnnes  doing  in  the  old  church,  as  well 
as  of  the  old  custom  itself,  is  the  following : — "  The  Abbot  and  Convent 
of  St.  Saviour  of  Bermondsey  shall  provide  at  every  such  anniversary  a 
hearse,  to  be  set  in  the  midst  of  the  liigh  chancel  of  the  said  monastery, 
before  the  high  altar,  covered  and  appareled  with  the  best  and  most 
honourable  stuff  in  the  same  monastery  convenient  for  the  same.  And 
also  four  tapers  of  wax,  each  of  them  weighing  eight  pounds,  to  be 
set  upon  the  same  hearse,  that  is  to  say,  on  either  side  thereof  one 
taper,  and  at  either  end  of  the  same  hearse  another  taper,  and  all  the 
same  four  tapers  to  be  lighted  and  burning  continually  during  all  the 
time  of  every  such  Placebo,  Dirige,  with  nine  lessons,  lauds,  and  mass 
of  Rccjuicm,  with  the  prayers  and  obeisimces  above  rehearsed." 

At  the  Dissolution,  the  Abbot  of  Jk'rmondsey  had  no  tender  scruplei 
al>out  conscience  or  principle,  like  »o  many  of  his  brethren,  but  arranged 


Founding  the  Priory  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Great.   47 

everything  in  the  pleasantest  possible  manner  for  the  King ;  and  he  had 
his  reward.  The  monastery  itself,  with  the  manor,  demesne,  &c.,  the 
•'court  leet,  the  view  of  frank-pledge,  and  the  free-warren"  were 
granted  by  Henry  VIII.,  to  Sir  Robert  Southwell,  Master  of  the  Rolls, 
who  sold  them  to  Sir  Thomas  Hope,  the  founder  of  Trinity  College, 
Oxford,  who  was  the  destroyer  of  the  fine  old  Abbey  of  Bermondsey. 
He  pulled  down  the  conventual  church  and  most  of  the  other  buildings, 
and  erected  a  mansion  on  the  site;  and  then,  as  if  satisfied  with  what  he 
had  done,  reconveyed  the  mansion,  with  the  orchards,  &c.,  to  Sir  Robert. 
The  manor  he  subsequently  sold  to  a  citizen  and  goldsmith  of  London. 
Bermondsey  Priory  (converted  into  an  Abbey  late  in  the  fourteenth 
century),  was  founded  in  1082,  by  Alwin  Child,  a  citizen  of  London, 
for  Cluniac  monks,  from  the  monastery  of  La  Charite  de  Dieu,  on  the 
Loire,  which  continued  to  supply  its  priors  until  1372.  It  is  worthy  of 
note  that  between  1082  and  1372,  the  number  of  these  priors  was 
sixty-eight,  nine  of  whom  were  promoted,  and  six  resigned,  leaving 
fifty-three  to  die  while  holding  the  office ;  at  times  two  or  three  within 
a  single  year.  The  average  life  in  office  of  the  priors  of  Bermondsey, 
during  290  years,  was  but  four  years,  three  months,  and  five  days. 


Founding  the  Priory  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Great. 

Upon  the  south-eastern  side  of  Smithfield  stands  a  portion  of  the  fine 
old  church,  which  formed  without  doubt,  part  of  the  ancient  Priory  of 
St.  Bartholomew  the  Great,  supposed  to  have  been  founded  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  twelfth  century,  by  Rahere,  or  Raherius,  who  became 
the  first  prior  of  the  establishment.  According  to  a  manuscript  in 
the  British  Museum,  written,  probably,  soon  after  the  death  of  Rahere, 
by  a  monk  who  inhabited  the  Priory,  Rahere  was  a  "  man  sprung 
and  born  from  low  kynage,  but  haunted  the  palace  of  the  King  Henry  I., 
was  a  pleasant-witted  gentleman,  and  called  the  king's  minstrel ;"  though 
he  has  been  identified  with  one  of  the  companions  of  the  '•  hardy  outlaw," 
Hereward,  "  the  last  of  the  Saxons,"  who,  at  the  bridge  of  Wrokesham, 
rescued  four  innocent  persons  from  Norman  executioners ;  and  they, 
owing  to  his  ingenious  disguise,  mistook  him  for  a  heron,  an  honourable 
nickname  which  continued  to  cling  to  him  through  life.  Disgusted, 
however,  with  his  manner  of  living,  and  repenting  him  of  his  sins,  he 
undertook  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome.  "  There,  at  the  shrine  of  the  blessed 
apostles,  Peter  and  Paul,  he  weeping  his  deeds,  prayed  to  our  Lord  for 
the  remission  of  them,  and  avowed  that  if  health  God  would  him  grant, 
Uiat  he  might   return  to  his  country,  he   would  make  an  hospital 


4.3    Foimding  the  Priory  of  St.  Bartkolomav  the  Great 

in  recreation  of  poor  men,  and  to  them  so  there  gathered,  necessaries 
minister  after  his  power.  And  not  long  after,  the  benign  and  merciful 
Lord  beheld  this  weeping  man,  gave  him  his  health,  and  approved  his  vow. 
"  When  he  would  perfect  his  way  that  he  had  begun,  in  a  certain 
night  he  saw  a  vision  full  of  dread  and  sweetness.  It  seemed  him  to  be 
borne  up  on  high  of  a  certain  beast,  having  four  feet  and  two  wings,  and 
set  him  in  an  high  place.  And  when  he,  from  so  great  a  height,  would 
inflect  and  bend  his  eye  to  the  lower  part  downward,  he  beheld  a  hor- 
rible pit,  whose  beholding  him  impressed  with  great  dread:  for  the 
deepness  of  the  same  pit  was  deeper  than  any  man  might  attain  to  see ; 
therefore,  he  (secret  knower  of  his  defaults)  deemed  himself  to  slide  into 
that  cruel  a  downcast.  And  therefore  (as  seemed  him  inwardly)  he 
fremshid  (quaked),  and  for  dread  trembled,  and  great  cries  of  his  mouth 
proceeded.  To  whom  appeared  a  certain  man,  pretending  in  cheer  the 
majesty  of  a  king,  of  great  beauty  and  imperial  authority,  and  his  eye  on 
him  fastened.  '  O  man,'  he  said, '  what  and  how  much  sei-vice  shouldest 
thou  give  to  him  that  in  so  great  a  peril  hath  brought  help  to  thee  ?' 
And  he  answered  to  this  saint,  '  Whatsoever  might  be  of  heart  and  of 
might,  diligently  should  I  given  in  recompense  to  my  deliverer.'  '  And 
then,'  said  he,  '  I  am  Bartholomew,  the  apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  that 
come  to  succour  thee  in  thine  anguish,  and  to  open  to  thee  the  secret 
mysteries  of  Heaven.  Know  me  truly,  by  the  will  and  commandment 
of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  the  common  favour  of  the  celestial  court  and 
council,  to  have  chosen  a  place  in  the  suburbs  of  London,  at  Smithfield, 
where,  in  mine  name  thou  shalt  found  a  church.  This  spiritual 
house  Almighty  God  shall  inhabit,  and  hallow  it  and  glorify  it.  Where- 
fore, doubt  thee  nought ;  only  give  thy  diligence,  and  my  part  shall  be 
to  provide  necessaries,  direct,  build,  and  end  this  work.'  Rahere  now 
came  to  London,  and  of  his  knowledge  and  friends  with  great  joy  was 
received  ;  with  which  also,  with  the  barons  of  London  he  spake  fami- 
liarly of  these  things  that  were  turned  and  stirred  in  his  heart,  and  of 
that  was  done  about  him  in  the  way  he  told  it  out;  and  what  should 
be  done  of  this  he  counselled  of  them.  He  took  this  answer,  that  none 
of  these  might  be  perfected,  but  the  King  were  first  counselled ;  namely, 
since  the  place  godly  to  him  showed  was  containetl  within  the  King's 
market.  In  opportune  time  Rahere  addressed  him  to  the  King;  and 
nigh  him  was  He  in  whose  hands  it  was  to  what  he  would  the  King's 
heart  incline:  and  .■f.cfTectual  these  prayers  might  not  be  whose  author  is 
the  apostle,  whose  gracious  hearer  is  God.  Rahere's  word  tlierefore 
was  pleasant  and  acceptable,  and  when  tiie  King  had  praised  thr  good 
%vit  of  the  man  (prudently,  as  be  w«i  witty),  granted  to  the  petitiona 
hia  kin^jly  favour. 


Founding  the  Priory  of  St.  BartJiolomciv  the  Great.    49 

"  Then  Rahere  omitting  nothing  of  care  and  diligence,  two  works  of 
piety  hegan  to  make — one  for  the  vow  he  had  made,  another  as  to  him 
by  precept  was  enjoined."  The  place  where  these  great  works  were  to 
be  erected  had  been  previously  shown  to  King  Edward  the  Confessor, 
in  a  revelation : — "  the  which,  in  a  certain  night,  when  he  was  bodily 
sleeping,  his  heart  to  God  waking,  he  was  warned  of  this  place  with  an 
heavenly  dream  made  to  him,  that  God  this  place  had  chosen :  there- 
upon, this  holy  King,  early  arising,  came  to  this  place  that  God  had 
showed  him ;  and  to  them  that  about  him  stood,  expressed  the  vision 
t  jat  night  made  to  him,  and  prophesied  this  place  to  be  great  before 
God."  It  was  also  said  that  three  men  of  Greece,  who  came  to  Lon- 
don, went  to  this  place  and  worshipped  God  ;  "  and  before  them  that 
were  present  (and  beheld  them  as  simple  idiots),  they  began  wonderful 
things  to  say  and  prophesy  of  this  place,  saying,  '  Wonder  not ;  see  us 
here  to  worship  God,  where  a  full  and  acceptable  temple  to  him  shall 
be  builded ;  and  the  fame  of  this  place  shall  attain  from  the  spring  of 
the  sun  to  the  going  down.' " 

The  spot  selected  for  the  site  of  the  church  was  a  mere  marsh,  for 
the  most  part  covered  with  water ;  while  on  that  portion  which  was 
not  so,  stood  the  common  gallows.  Rahere's  power  of  rendering  him- 
self agreeable,  it  appears,  had  not  left  him  ;  for  it  seems  by  assuming 
the  manners  of  an  idiot  and  consorting  with  the  lower  order  of  persons, 
he  procured  so  much  help,  that  notwithstanding  the  difficulties  inter- 
posed by  the  badness  of  the  situation,  the  great  work  was  speedily 
finished.  The  church  he  made  of  comely  stonework  table-wise ;  and  an 
hospital-house,  a  little  longer  off  from  the  church  by  himself  he  began 
to  edify.  The  completion  of  the  work  evidently  excited  a  large  amount 
ot  wonder  and  admiration,  not  unmixed  with  a  kind  of  superstitious 
awe.  People  "  were  greatly  astonied  both  of  the  novelty  of  the  raised 
frame,  and  of  the  founder,  who  would  trow  this  place  with  so  sudden 
a  dreaming  could  be  purged,  and  there  to  be  set  up  the  token  of  the 
Cross  ?  And  God  there  to  be  worshipped,  where  sometime  stood  the 
hoiTible  hanging  of  thieves  ?"  Three  Byzantine  princes,  whether  mer- 
chants or  monks  does  not  appear,  attended  the  consecration  of  the 
choir,  by  Beauvais,  Bishop  of  London,  and  prophesied  the  prosperity  of 
the  Hospital.  On  the  conventual  seal  of  the  1 2th  century,  the  original 
design  of  the  church  is  shown  with  a  low  central  tower,  and  two  pair 
of  towers,  one  at  each  of  the  angles  of  the  church,  all  crowmcd  with 
conical  spires. 

\Vhen  the  Priory  began  to  flourish  and  its  fame  spread,  Rahere 
joined  to  him  a  certain  old  man,  Alfun  by  name,  who  had  not  long  be« 
*  c 


50    Founding  the  Priory  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Great. 

fore  built  the  church  of  St.  Giles,  at  Cripplegate.  Rahere,  fi-om  his 
counsel  and  help  derived  much  encouragement.  Alfiin,  with  ministers 
of  the  church,  sought  and  provided  necessaries  for  the  jxjor  men  that 
lay  in  the  hospital,  and  for  them  that  were  hired  in  building  their  church. 
To  help  Alfim,  St.  Bartholomew  was  believed  to  have  wrought  miracles, 
such  as  the  following.  Alfun  having  applied  to  a  widow,  she  told  him 
she  had  but  seven  measures  of  malt,  and  that  indeed,  it  was  no  more 
than  but  absolutely  necessary  for  her  family's  use.  She  was,  however,  pre- 
vailed on  to  give  one  measure.  Alfun  was  no  sooner  gone  than,  casting 
her  eyes  on  the  remaining  measures,  she  counted  seven  still.  Thinking 
herself  mistaken,  she  tried  again,  and  found  eight,  and  so  on  ad  infi- 
nitum. No  sooner  was  the  receptacle  ready  than  many  "  yearly  with 
lights  and  oblations,  peaceful  vows,  and  prayers,  visited  this  holy 
church  ;"  and  the  fame  of  cures  performed  was  supported  by  magnifi- 
cent festivals  ;  "  the  year  1 148,  after  the  obit  of  Harry  the  First,  King 
of  England,  the  twelfth  year,  when  the  golden  path  of  the  sun  reduced 
to  us  the  desired  joys  of  feastful  celebrity,  then,  with  a  new  solemnity  of 
the  blessed  Apostle,  was  illumined  with  new  miracles  this  holy  place. 
Languishing  men,  grieved  with  varying  soitows,  softly  lay  in  the 
church ;  prostrate  beseeching  the  mercy  of  God,  and  the  presence  of 
St.  Bartholomew." 

But,  new  troubles  arose,  and  disturbed  the  last  hours  of  Rahere.  The 
reputation  he  had  gained,  created  for  him  many  enemies,  who  scrupled 
not  to  accuse  him  of  hypocrisy,  and  sought  all  means  to  injure  him  : 
some  even  went  so  far  as  to  conspire  his  death ;  but  being  apprised  of 
the  plot,  he  contrived  to  elude  them,  and  ultimately  obtained  the  in- 
terference of  Henry  I.  in  his  behalf:  the  King  also  granted  to  the 
priory,  by  charter,  many  immunities  and  privileges.  According  to  the 
MS.  referred  to,  numerous  miracles  were  wrought  in  the  Monastery 
during  the  life  of  Rahere ;  and  even  after  his  death,  the  blind  were  re- 
stored to  their  sight,  and  the  sick  were  made  well  by  a  visit  to  the  spot. 
After  the  service  of  his  prelacy,  twenty-two  years  and  six  months, 
Rahere  "the  clay-house  of  this  world  forsook,  and  the  house  ever- 
lasting he  entered."  His  memory  was  held  in  great  veneration :  and  his 
remains  rest  beneath  a  sumptuous  tomb  in  the  church.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Thomas,  one  of  the  canons  of  the  church  of  St.  Osyth, 
who  was  prelate  about  thirty  years.  "  In  age,"  says  the  MS.,  "  an 
hundred  winters,  almost  with  whole  wits,  with  all  Christian  solemnity, 
he  deceased  in  1 174.  In  this  man's  time  grew  the  plant  of  the  apostolic 
branch  in  glory  and  in  grace  before  God  and  man.  And  with  nrorc 
ample  buildings  were  the  skins  of  our  tabernacle  dilat*^  *' 


Founding  the  Priory  of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Great.    5 1 

in  1410,  the  i^riory  was  rebuilt.  It  was  entirely  enclosed  within 
waiis ;  at  first  there  were  no  houses  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood ; 
but  the  establishment  of  the  Monastery,  and  the  fair  granted  to  it, 
speedily  caused  a  considerable  population  to  spring  up  all  around  and 
ultimately  within.  The  fair,  held  annually  at  Bartholomew-tide,  for 
three  days,  was  granted  to  the  Prior  and  canons,  before  the  reign  ot 
Henry  I.;  for  a  charter  from  this  monarch  conveys  certain  immunities 
to  the  Priory,  and  by  which  "  free  place  is  granted"  to  all  persons  fre- 
quenting the  fair  of  St.  Bartholomew.  To  this  mart  originally  resorted 
clothiers  and  drapers,  not  merely  of  England,  but  of  all  countries,  who 
there  exposed  their  goods  for  sale.  The  stalls  or  booths  were  within 
the  walls  of  the  Priory  churchyard,  the  gates  of  which  were  locked  each 
night,  and  a  watch  was  set  in  order  to  protect  the  various  wares; 
the  street  on  the  north  side  of  the  church  is  still  called  Cloth  Fair. 
During  the  fair  a  "  Court  of  Pie-powder"  was  held,  to  do  justice  ex- 
peditiously among  the  numerous  persons  who  resorted  there.  The  fair 
was  proclaimed  ybr  the  last  time  in  1855:  the  sole  existing  vestige  of  it 
is  the  old  fee  of  thrce-and-sixpence  still  paid  by  the  City  to  the  Rector 
of  St.  Bartholomew  the  Great,  for  a  proclamation  in  his  parish.  Of 
Rahere's  church  nothing  remains  but  the  choir,  with  a  procession  path 
surrounding  its  east  end.  The  modem  tower  of  brick  was  built  in 
1628.  Still,  the  church  is,  beyond  all  question,  the  oldest  in  the  City  of 
London,  having  been  erected  nearly  750  years ;  and  its  restoration  has 
been  commenced,  and  will,  it  is  hoped,  be  completed. 

"  We  have  few  monuments  of  mediaeval  art  in  London,  (says  the  Rev. 
Mackenzie  Walcott,)  and  with  the  exception  of  the  unrivalled  Church 
of  Westminster,  and  the  surviving  portion  of  St.  Mary  Overye,  there 
is  not  one  among  them  to  compete  in  size,  importance,  or  archxological 
interest,  with  the  old  minster  of  St.  Bartholomew,  Smithfield.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  the  wealthy  citizens  of  London  and  other  churchmen  will 
not  withhold  their  contributions,  which  might  be  made  a  memorial  for 
the  martyrs  who  suffered  the  baptism  of  fire  on  the  adjoining  ground 
for  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  but  will  aid  in  the  spirit  of 
an  ancient  worthy :  '  Revere  founders,  revere  their  names,  revere  that 
ancient  glory  and  honourable  age,  which  venerable  in  man,  in  cities  are 
sacred.'"* 

Stow  records  having  seen  in  his  youth,  on  tht?  eve  of  St.  Bartholomew, 
the  scholars  of  divers  grammar-schools  repair  to  the  churchyard,  and 
upon  a  bank  under  a  tree,  dispute  with  one  another:  on  the  Suppres- 


Plin.  ad  Max.,  Ep.  viii.  24. 
£  3 


52  Romance  of  Bay  Hard's  Ca^tU. 

sion,  these  opponences  were  removed  for  a  few  years  to  the  cloisters  f)f 
Christ's  Hospital,  in  the  time  of  Edward  VI. ;  and  the  conquerors  in 
the  wordy  war  were  rewarded  with  bows  and  arrows  of  silver.* 


Romance  of  Baynard's  Castle. 

On  the  north  bank  of  the  Thames,  immediately  below  St.  Paul's,  and 
in  the  line  of  Upper  Thames-street,  stood  two  Castles — all  traces  of  which 
nave  long  since  disappeared,  with  the  exception  of  the  name  of  one  of  them, 
which  is  still  preserved  to  the  Ward  of  Castle  Baynai'd,  wherein  it  was 
situated.  Of  this  fortress,  especially,  many  are  the  romantic  tales  which 
might  be  told.  It  was  so  called  of  its  founder,  William  Baynard,  a 
nobleman,  lord  of  Dunmow,  who  came  in  with  William  the  Conqueror. 
Fitzstephen,  who  wrote  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  describes  it  as  a 
considerable  building  in  his  time ;  and  Gervasius  of  Tilbury,  a  contem- 
porary writer,  speaks  of  two  castles,  built  with  walls  and  ramparts, 
whereof  one  is  in  right  of  possession  Baynard's,  the  other  is  the  Baron 
Montfichet's,  Baynard,  the  founder  of  the  foiTner,  dying  in  the  reign 
of  William  Rufus,  left  it  to  his  son  Geoffrey,  from  whom  it  came  to 
William  Baynard  ;  who,  having  forfeited  his  barony  of  Little  Dunmow, 
and  "honor  of  Baynard's  Castle,"  both  were  conferred  by  Henry  I.  on 
Robert  Fitzwalter,  the  son  of  Gilbert,  Earl  of  Clare,  in  whose  family  it 
remained  for  three  centuries. 

A  love  story  is  told  of  this  family  in  the  reign  of  King  John. 
Robert,  baron  Fitzwalter,  lord  of  Castle  Baynard,  had  a  lovely  daugh- 
ter, Matilda  the  Fair.  The  "  Chronicle  of  Dunmow"  saith  that  discord 
a/ose  between  the  King  and  his  barons,  because  of  the  above  Matilda, 
whom  the  king  loved;  but  her  father  would  not  consent,  and  thereupon 
war  ensued  throughout  England.  "  The  King  spoiled  especially  the 
castle  of  Baynard,  in  London,  and  other  holds  and  houses  of  the  barons. 
Fitzwalter,  Fitzrobert,  and  Mountfichet  passed  over  into  France;  some 
also  went  into  Wales,  and  some  into  Scotland,  and  did  great  damage  to 
the  King.  Whilst  Maude  the  Fair  remained  at  Duinuow,  there  came  a 
messenger  unto  her  from  King  John,  about  his  suit  in  love ;  but  because 
she  would  not  agree,  the  messenger  poisoned  a  boiled  or  poached  egg, 
against  she  was  hungrie,  whereof  she  died,  and  was  buried  in  the  choi\ 
at  Dunmow."  The  name  of  Rolwrt  Fitzwalter.  the  father  of  this  un- 
happy maid,  is  placed  by  Matthew  Paris  at  the  head  ot  the  Barons  wha 


*  Abridged  from  Knight's  Liiidom,  vol.  ii.,  where  tlic  valuable  manuscript  i« 
more  fully  cjuoted. 


Romance  of  Baynard's  Castle.  53 

came  armed  to  King  John  in  the  Temple,  and  made  those  demands 
which  finally  resulted  in  the  signing  of  Magna  Charta. 

Another  romantic  story  is  related  of  his  reconciliation  with  the  King, 
which  we  would  fain  hope  is  not  true ;  and  there  is  difficulty  in  believ- 
ing it,  from  the  confusion  of  dates.  If  King  John  really  poisoned  his 
daughter,  and  acted  throughout  towards  her  as  he  is  represented  to 
have  done,  no  true  man,  as  Fitzwalter  appears  to  have  been,  would  have 
ever  condescended  to  be  taken  into  his  favour.  The  following  is  the 
story: — King  John  being  in  France,  after  the  flight  of  Fitzwalter  from 
England,  concluded  a  truce  with  the  French  king  for  five  years.  Whe^ 
the  truce  was  proclaimed,  an  English  knight  invited  any  knight  from 
the  French  to  cross  the  stream  that  divided  the  two  armies,  and  take  a 
joust  or  two  with  him.  The  invitation  or  challenge  was  accepted,  and 
a  knight  of  the  French  plunged  his  horse  into  the  river  and  swam  across, 
and  defeated  the  English  knight  in  so  masterly  a  manner,  that  King 
John,  struck  with  admiration,  is  said  to  have  exclaimed,  "  Happy  is  the 
king  who  has  such  a  knight  as  this  !"  The  words  were  reported  to  the 
victor,  who  was  no  other  than  Fitzwalter,  who  had  joined  the  French 
aimy ;  and  he  was  so  flattered  with  the  praise  that  he  came  the  next  day, 
threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  John,  and  was  pardoned  for  his  defection. 
He  then  returned  to  England,  rebuilt  Castle  Bayuard,  which  John  had 
thrown  down,  and  resided  in  it  with  great  magnificence  until  his  death. 

In  1428,  being  then,  probably,  by  another  forfeiture  a  part  of  the 
Royal  possessions,  the  Castle  was  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  fire,  but 
was  soon  after  granted  to  and  rebuilt  by  Humphrey,  Duke  of  Glouces- 
ter, for  his  own  residence.  In  this  castle  the  Council  assembled  which 
proclaimed  the  Earl  of  March  King,  under  the  title  of  Edward  IV,; 
and  here  also  his  luckless  boy  was  proclaimed  Edward  V. 

But  the  castle  acquired  its  greatest  celebrity  in  connexion  witli 
Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  aftenvards  Richard  HI.,  who  here 
assumed  the  regal  dignity.  Here  Stafford,  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
offered  the  crown  to  Richard,  in  the  court  of  the  castle ;  and  here 
Shakspeare  has  laid  a  scene  of  inimitable  excellence.  Buckingham,  in 
veritable  history,  will  be  remembered  as  the  seconder  of  Dr.  Shaw's 
sermon  at  Paul's  Cross,  to  establish  the  illegitimacy  of  the  children  ot 
Edward  IV.,  and  thus  clear  the  way  to  the  throne  for  the  wily  Richard, 
Duke  of  Gloucester.  Two  days  afterwards,  the  Duke  of  Buckingham 
larangued  the  citizens  in  the  same  strain  with  Shaw;  and  on  the  2-th 
of  June  tliat  nobleman  presented  to  Richard,  in  his  mother's  house  at 
Baynard's  Castle,  a  parchment  purporting  to  be  a  declaration  of  the 
Tli-'W  Estates  in  favour  of  Richard,  as  the  only  legitimate  prince  of  the 


54  Romance  of  Baynard's  Castle. 

House  of  York.  Buckingham  had  been  sent  by  Richard  to  Guildhall, 
to  see  his  suit  well  urged,  and  bring  the  Lord  Mayor  and  aldermen  to 
him,  saying,  "  If  you  thrive  well,  bring  them  to  Baynard's  Castle,  where 
you  shall  find  me  well  accompanied  with  reverend  fathers,  and  well 
learned  bishops;"  then,  with  seeming  reluctance,  Richard  repels  the  oftei 
of  the  glittering  crown,  but  at  length  accepts.  Buckingham  then  salutes 
Gloucester  as  "  England's  worthy  king  ;"  the  day  of  coronation  is  fixed ; 
Gloucester  says  to  the  two  bishops, 

"  Come,  let  us  to  our  holy  work  again  ;" 
and  thus  ends  this  usually  well-acted  scene  of  royal  hypocrisy  and 
blood-stained  guilt.  By  the  way,  this  was  the  incident  which  so  de- 
lighted George  II.,  that  when  Ganick  asked  his  Majesty,  on  leaving 
the  box,  how  he  liked  the  play,  the  King  replied  seriously,  "  Fine  lor 
mayor,  capital  lor  mayor;  where  you  get  such  lor  mayor?" 

Baynard's  Castle  was  the  scene  of  many  other  historical  events,  prior 
to  its  destruction  in  the  Great  Fire.  Henry  VII.  changed  the  castle 
from  a  fortress  to  a  palace.  He  lodged  in  it  occasionally,  and  from 
hence  made  several  of  his  solemn  processions.  Here,  in  1505,  he  lodged 
Philip  of  Austria,  the  matrimonial  King  of  Castile,  when  he  was  driven 
to  England  by  a  tempest. 

The  Castle  was  the  residence  of  Sir  William  Sydney,  who  died 
chamberlain  and  steward  to  Edward  VI.  It  next  became  the  resi- 
dence of  the  Earls  of  Pembroke ;  and  in  1553,  on  the  9th  of  July,  about 
a  fortnight  after  the  death  of  Edward  VI.,  William  Herbert,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  assembled  there  the  council  of  the  nobility  and  clergy,  at 
which  the  determination  was  taken,  on  the  motion  of  Lord  Arundel,  to 
abandon  the  cause  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  and  to  proclaim  Queen  Mary, 
which  accordingly  was  instantly  done  in  different  parts  of  the  city. 
It  is  recorded  of  this  Earl,  that  "  he  rode  on  the  1 7th  of  February, 
1553,  to  his  mansion  of  Baynard  Castle,  with  300  horse  in  his  retinue, 
of  which  100  of  them  were  gentlemen  in  plain  blue  cloth,  with  chains 
of  gold,  and  badges  of  a  dragon  on  their  sleeves."  He  died  on  the  1 7th 
of  March,  1569-70,  and  was  buried  in  tlie  cathedral  of  St.  Paul's  with 
Buch  magnificence,  that  the  mourning  given  at  his  funeral,  according  to 
Stov.',  cost  the  very  large  sum,  at  that  perioil,  of  200c/. 

Queen  Elizabeth  visited  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  at  liaynard's  Castle, 
and  t<xjk  supper  witli  his  lordship ;  after  wliicii  the  Queen  showed  her- 
self from  a  balcony  to  tlie  people  assembled  in  boats  and  barges  upon 
the  river ;  and  then  entered  her  own  barge  amid  a  brilliant  display  of 
fircworkfl,  and  the  acclamations  of  the  |)eople. 

Here  Philip,  Eail  of  Pembroke  and  Montgomery,  was  (July  9,  1641) 


Romance  of  Baynard' s  Castle.  55 

rr.stalled  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Oxford  ;  and  here  his  second 
Countess,  the  still  more  celebrated  "  Anne  Pembroke,  Dorset,  and 
Montgomery,"  took  up  her  abode,  while  her  husband  resided  at  the 
Cockpit,  at  Whitehall.  She  describes  Baynard  Castle  in  her  Me- 
moirs, as  "  a  house  full  of  riches,  and  more  secured  by  my  lying 
there."  On  the  19th  of  June,  1660,  King  Charles  II.  went  to  supper 
here,  as  Pepys  records :  "  My  Lord  [;>.,  Lord  Sandwich]  went  at 
night  with  the  King  to  Baynard's  Castle  to  supper."  1 

The  Earls  of  Shrewsbury  were  the  last  proprietors  of  this  famous 
castle,  and  resided  in  it  until  its  destruction  by  the  Great  Fire.  It  is 
represented  in  an  old  print  as  a  square  pile,  surrounding  two  courts,  and 
surmoimted  with  numerous  towers.  A  large  gateway  in  the  middle  of 
the  south  side,  led  to  the  river  by  a  bridge  of  two  arches  and  stairs.  In 
Hollar's  View  of  London  after  the  Great  Fire,  we  see  the  river  front 
standing,  with  its  numerous  towers;  but  to  the  right  and  left  of  the 
Castle  the  ruins  of  the  fire  are  very  extensive,  and  we  miss  or  see 
In  ruins  many  a  noble  mansion. 

The  principal  front  of  the  castle  was  in  Thames-street.  Two  of  the 
towers,  incorporated  with  other  buildings,  remained  till  the  present 
century,  when  they  were  pulled  down  to  make  way  for  the  Carron  Iron 
Company's  premises.  The  ward  in  which  stood  the  fortress-palace  ia 
named  Castle  Baynard,  as  is  also  a  wharf  upon  the  site ;  and  a  public-house 
in  the  neighbourhood  long  bore  the  sign  of  "  Duke  Humphrey's  Head." 

In  Notes  and  Queries,  No.  ii,  it  is  shown  that  Bainiardus,  who  gave 
his  name  to  Baynard's  Castle,  held  land  here  of  the  Abbot  of  West- 
minster ;  and  in  a  grant  as  late  as  1 653  is  described  "  the  common  field 
at  Paddington"  (now  Bayswater  Field),  as  being,  "  near  to  a  place  com- 
monly called  Baynard's  Watering."  Hence  it  is  concluded  "  that  this 
portion  of  ground,  always  remarkable  for  its  springs  of  excellent  water, 
once  supplied  water  to  Baynard,  his  household,  or  his  castle ;  that  the 
memory  of  his  name  was  preserved  in  the  neighbourhood  for  six  cen- 
turies ;"  and  that  this  watering-place  is  now  Bayswater. 

There  is  a  curious  record  of  the  failure  of  Lord  Fitzwalter  to  place 
delinquents  in  the  stocks,  which  he  had  set  up  at  Castle  Baynard  at  his 
own  will.  The  citizens  were  in  an  uproar  at  this  abuse ;  and  Fitz- 
walter being  no  longer  in  possession  at  Castle  Baynard,  he  had  to  take 
down  the  stocks.  The  Fitzwalters  had,  however,  a  stranger  privilege  than 
even  this :  they  had  the  privilege  of  drowning  traitors  in  the  Thames. 
The  "  patient"  was  made  fast  to  a  pillar  at  Wood  Wharf,  and  left 
there  for  the  tide  to  flow  twice  over,  and  ebb  twice  from  him,  while 
the  crowd  looked  en,  and  enjoyed  tlie  barbarous  spectacle  I 


56  The  Beggar's  Daughter  of  Bethnal  Green. 

Adjoining  Bajmard's  Castle  was  another  tower,  built  by  Edward  II., 
which  his  son  gave  to  William  de  Ross,  of  Hamlake,  in  Yorkshire,  he 
having  done  sei-yice  in  the  wars  against  Scotland  and  France ;  for  this 
tower  he  paid  yearly  a  rose. 

The  other  castle,  of  which  mention  is  made  by  Fitzstephen  in  his 
account  of  London,  was  called  the  Castle  of  Montfichet,  and  stood  to 
the  west  of  Castle  Baynard.  It  was  founded  by  Gilbert  de  Monfichet, 
a  native  of  Rouen,  and  related  to  the  Conqueror.  He  brought  with 
\\TS\  a  great  force,  and  fought  gallantly  in  his  cause  at  the  Battle  of 
Hastings.  This  tower  was  demolished  by  King  John  in  12 13,  after 
banishing  Richard,  successor  to  Gilbert,  the  actual  owner:  the  mateiiala 
were  applied,  in  1276,  towards  building  the  monastery  of  Blackfriars. 


The  Beggar's  Daughter  of  Bethnal  Green. 

The  low-lying  district,  formerly  a  "  Green,"  but  now  covered  with 
masses  of  small  houses,  was  once  a  hamlet  of  Stepney,  but  was  made  a 
parish  in  1743.  It  is  of  long  celebrity  from  the  old  English  ballad  of 
"  The  Beggar's  Daughter  of  Bednall-Green,"  written  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  It  is  founded,  though  without  the  least  appearance  of 
truth,  or  even  probability,  on  a  legend  of  the  time  of  Henry  III.  Henry 
de  Montfort,  son  of  the  ambitious  Earl  of  Leicester,  who  was  slain  with 
his  father  at  the  memorable  battle  of  Evesham,  is  the  hwo  of  the  tale. 
He  is  supposed  (according  to  the  legend),  to  have  been  discovered 
among  the  bodies  of  the  slain  by  a  young  lady,  in  an  almost  Ufeless 
state,  and  deprived  of  sight  by  a  wound  which  he  had  received  in  the 
tattle.  Under  the  fostering  hand  of  this  "  faire  damosel,"  he  soon  re- 
covered, and  afterwards  marrying  her,  she  became  the  mother  of  "  the 
comelyc  and  prettye  Bessee."  Fearing  lest  his  rank  and  person  should 
be  discovered  by  his  enemies,  he  disguised  himself  in  the  habit  of  a 
beggar,  and  took  up  his  abode  at  Bethnal  Green.  The  beauty  of  his 
daughter  attracted  many  suitors,  and  she  was  at  length  married  to  a 
noble  knight,  who  regardless  of  her  supposed  meanness  and  poverty, 
had  the  courage  to  make  her  his  wife,  her  other  lovers  having  deserted 
ner,  on  account  of  her  low  origin.  In  the  ballad,  the  "  Song  of  the 
Beggar"  contains  the  whole  of  the  legend  concerning  de  Montfojt,  as 

follows  t 

"  A  poore  beggar's  dauglitcr  did  dwell  on  a  grccne, 
Who  for  her  fairnt-ssc  might  well  be  a  qucenc: 
A  bliihe  bonny  husc,  and  a  ditintye  wiu>  shee, 
And  many  a  oae  called  her  pretty  Uesjiec 


TJie  Beggar  s  Daughter  of  Bethual  Green.  57 

Her  father  hee  had  noe  goods  nor  noe  land, 
But  begg'd  for  a  penny  all  day  with  his  hand  ; 
And  yett  to  her  marriage  he  gave  thousands  three, 
And  still  he  hath  somewhat  for  pretty  Bessce. 

And  if  any  one  her  birth  doe  disdaine, 
Her  father  is  ready,  with  might  and  with  mainc. 
To  prove  shee  is  come  of  noble  degree — 
Therefore  never  fiout  att  the  prettye  Bessee. 

•  *  •  •  « 

Then  give  me  leave,  nobles  and  gentles,  each  OM^ 
One  song  more  to  sing,  and  then  I  have  done  ; 
And  if  that  itt  may  not  winn  good  report, 
Then  doe  not  give  me  a  guoat  for  my  sport. 

Sir  Simon  de  Montfort  my  subject  shall  bee, 
Once  chiefe  of  all  the  great  barons  was  hee — 
Yet  fortune  so  cruelle  this  lorde  did  abase, 
Now  lost  and  forgotten  are  hee  and  his  race. 

When  the  barons  in  armes  did  King  Henr)'e  oppcae* 
Sir  Simon  de  Montfort  tlieir  leader  they  chose — 
A  leader  of  courage  undaunted  was  hee, 
And  oft-times  he  made  their  enemyes  flee. 

At  length  in  the  battle  on  Evesham's  plaine 

The  barons  were  routed,  and  Montfort  was  slaine ; 

Moste  fatall  that  battel  did  prove  unto  thee, 

Thoughe  thou  wast  not  borne  then,  my  prettye  Besscc  I 

Along  with  the  nobles  that  fell  at  thy  tyde. 
His  eldest  son  Henrye,  who  fought  by  his  side, 
Was  f?llde  by  a  blowe  he  receiv'd  in  the  fighteJ 
A  blowo  that  deoriv'd  him  for  ever  of  sight. 

Among  the  dead  bodyes  all  lifeless*  he  laye. 
Till  evening  drewe  on  of  the  following  daye, 
Wher.  Lj  a  young  ladye  discover'd  was  bee — 
And  Ihis  was  thy  mother,  my  pretty  Bessee  i 

A  baron's  faire  daughter  stept  forth  in  the  nighte, 
To  search  for  her  father,  who  fell  in  the  fight. 
And  seeing  young  Montfort,  where  gasping  li;.-  laye, 
Was  moved  with  pitye,  and  broughte  him  awaye. 

In  secrette  she  nurst  him,  and  swaged  his  paine. 
While  he  throughe  the  realine  was  beleev'd  to  be  slaino: 
At  lengthe  his  faire  bride  she  consented  to  bee. 
And  made  him  glad  father  of  prettye  Bessee. 

And  nowe,  lest  oure  foes  our  lives  shoulde  betrayer 
We  clotlied  ourselves  in  beggar's  arraye ; 
Her  Jewells  she  solde,  and  hither  came  wee — 
All  our  comfort  and  care  was  our  pretty  Bessee. 

And  here  have  wee  lived  in  fortune's  despite, 
Thoughe  poore,  yet  contented  with  humble  delighta. 
Full  forty  winters  thus  have  I  beene 
A  silly  blind  beggar  of  Bednall  Cicene. 


53  The  Lollards  at  Lamhcth  Palace. 

And  here,  noble  lords,  is  ended  the  song 
Of  one  that  once  to  your  owne  ranke  did  belong ; 
And  thus  have  you  learned  a  secrette  from  mee, 
That  ne'er  had  beene  knowne  but  for  prettye  liessec* 

Here  is  a  portrait  of  the  Blind  Beggar: — 

"  My  father,  shee  said,  is  soone  to  be  seene, 
The  sicly  blind  beggar  of  Bednall-green, 
That  daylye  sits  begging  for  charitie, 
lie  is  the  good  father  of  prettye  Bessee. 

His  markes  and  his  tokens  are  known  ver)'  well ; 
He  always  is  led  with  a  dogg  and  a  bell. 
A  seely  old  man,  God  knoweth,  is  bee, 
Yet  he  is  the  father  of  prettye  Bessee." 

Lysons  tells  us  that  "  the  story  of  the  Blind  Beggar  seems  to  have 
gained  much  credit  in  the  village,  where  it  decorates  not  only  the  sign- 
posts of  tb^  publicans,  but  the  staflf  of  the  parish-beadle." 

In  1570,  there  was  a  house  at  Bethnal  Green,  built  by  John  Thorpe, 
the  architect  of  Holland  House,  for  John  Kirby,  of  whom  nothing  is 
known;  but  the  house  was  distinguished  in  rhyme  as  "  Kirby 's  Castle," 
and  associated  with  other  memorable  follies  in  brick  and  mortar: 

"  Kirkeby's  Castell  and  Fisher's  Follie, 
Spinila's  pleasure  and  Megse's  gloria." 

This  house  was  inhabited  in  1663  by  Sir  William  Rider,  to  whom 
Pepys  records  a  pleasant  visit:  "  26  June,  1663.  By  coach  to  Bednall- 
green  to  Sir  W.  Rider's  to  dinner.  A  fine  merry  walk  with  the  ladies 
alone  after  dinner  in  the  garden :  the  greatest  quantities  of  strawberries 
I  ever  saw,  and  good."  Pepys  speaks  with  less  authority  of  the  man- 
sion: ''This  very  house,"  he  says,  "was  built  by  the  Blind  Beggar  of 
Bednall-green,  so  much  talked  of  and  sung  in  ballads ;  but  they  say  it 
was  only  some  of  the  outhouses  of  it." 


The  Lollards  at  Lambeth  Palace. 

Few  of  the  venerable  edifices  of  this  kingdom  are  more  richly 
stored  with  historical  associations  than  the  archiepiscopal  palace  of 
Lambeth.  Its  origin,  as  stated  by  Matthew  Paris,  in  the  words  of  his 
translator  Stow,  is  curious.  •'  Boniface,"  saith  Matthew  Paris,  "  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  in  his  visitation  came  to  this  Priory  [of  St. 
Hirtliolomcw,  in  Smithficld],  where  being  received  in  procession  in  the 
most  solemn  wise,  he  said  that  he  passed  not  upon  tlie  honour,  but  came 
to  visit  thctR.    To  whom  the  canuns  answered,  that  they,  having  a 


The  Lollards  at  Lamhcth  Palace.  59 

learned  bishop,  ought  not,  m  contempt  of  him  to  be  visited  by  any  other. 
Which  answer  so  much  offended  the  Archbishop,  that  he  forthwith 
fell  on  the  Sub-Prior,  and  smote  him  on  the  face,  saying  '  Indeed! 
Indeed  !  doth  it  become  you  English  traitors  so  to  answer  me  ?'  Thus 
raging,  with  oaths  not  to  be  recited,  he  rent  in  pieces  the  rich  cope  of 
the  Sub-Prior,  and  trod  it  under  his  foot,  and  thrust  him  against  a 
pillar  of  the  chancel  with  such  violence  that  he  had  almost  killed  him. 
But  the  canons  seeing  their  Sub-Prior  thus  almost  slain,  came  and 
plucked  off  the  Archbishop  with  such  force  that  they  overthrew  him 
backwards,  whereby  they  might  see  he  was  armed  and  prepared  to  fight. 
The  Archbishop's  men,  seeing  their  master  down,  being  all  strangers, 
and  their  master's  countrymen,  bom  at  Provence,  fell  upon  the  canons, 
beat  them,  tore  them,  and  trod  them  under  foot.  At  length,  the  canons, 
getting  away  as  well  as  they  could,  ran,  bloody  and  miry,  rent  and 
torn,  to  the  Bishop  of  London  to  complain,  who  bade  them  go  to  the 
King  at  Westminster,  and  tell  him  thereof.  Whereupon  four  of  them 
went  thither ;  the  rest  were  not  able,  they  were  so  sore  hurt.  But 
when  they  came  to  Westminster,  the  King  would  neither  hear  nor  see 
them,  so  they  retunied,  without  redress.  In  the  mean  season,  the 
whole  city  was  in  an  uproar,  and  ready  to  have  rung  the  common  bell, 
and  to  have  hewed  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  into  small  pieces ; 
who  was  secretly  kept  to  Lambeth,  where  they  sought  him,  and  not 
knowing  him  by  sight,  said  to  themselves.  Where  is  that  ruffian,  that 
cruel  smiter  ?  He  is  no  winner  of  souls,  but  an  exactor  of  money, 
whom  neither  God  nor  any  lawful  or  free  election  did  bring  to  this  pro- 
motion ;  but  the  King  did  unlawfully  intrude  him  ;  being  unlearned,  a 
stranger  born,  having  a  wife,  &c.  But  the  Archbishop  conveyed  him- 
self over  [to  Westminster,]  and  went  to  the  king,  with  a  great  com- 
plaint against  the  canons,  whereas  himself  was  guilty."  So  the  Arch- 
bishop from  Lambeth  boldly  issued  a  sentence  of  excommunication 
against  his  opposers,  satisfied  that  the  king  would  support  him  in  his 
violent  tyranny.  Another  tribunal,  however,  was  appealed  to,  which 
had  no  particular  prepossession  for  the  Archbishop — the  Pope;  who 
commanded  him,  by  way  of  expiation,  to  build  a  splendid  mansion  at 
Lambeth  for  the  occupant  of  the  see,  in  the  room  of  the  humble 
manor-house  that  is  supposed  to  have  existed  previously. 

Such  was  the  origin  of  the  first  building  erected  at  Lambeth  as 
the  archiepiscopal  seat.  That  portion  of  the  pal?ce  known  as  the 
Lollards'  To-wer  is  more  directly  associated  with  history  than  any  other 
part  of  the  present  edifice.  The  Lollards,  named  from  their  low- 
tone  of  singing,  (in  German  lollen,)  at  interments,  will  be  rememberea 


6o  The  Lollards  at  Lambeth  Palace. 

in  our  history  as  a  numerous  sect,  whose  powerflil  preaching  produced 
an  extensive  refoiTnation  in  religious  opinion  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
They  endured  severe  persecutions  with  sincerity  and  firmness ;  but  in 
general  we  find  an  extravagant  fanaticism  among  them.  In  their  un- 
social qualities,  as  well  as  in  their  superior  abilities,  the  Lollards  beat 
a  very  close  resemblance  to  the  Puritans  of  Elizabeth's  reign.  The 
Lollards  numbered  among  them  many  eminent  followers  of  Wickliffe. 
Fostered  by  the  general  ill-will  towards  the  Church,  his  principles  made 
vast  progress  in  England,  and  unlike  those  of  earlier  sectaines,  were 
embraced  by  men  of  rank  and  civil  infiuence.  Notwithstanding  the 
check  they  sustained  by  the  sanguinary  law  of  Henry  IV.,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  multitudes  secretly  cherished  them  down  to  the  Refor- 
mation. As  the  virulence  of  the  Lollards  was  thus  directed  against  the 
Church,  we  might  expect  to  find  its  high  seat  the  prime  scene  of 
defence.  Accordingly,  the  Registers  of  Lambeth  Palace,  or  rather  the 
See  of  Canterbury,  record  several  proceedings  against  this  sect.  Wick- 
liffe himself  appeared  here  to  defend  his  tenets.  He  had  been  previously 
cited  to  St.  Paul's,  whither  he  went,  attended  by  the  all-powerful  John 
of  Gaunt.  A  new  and  what  was  intended  to  be  a  more  private  council 
was  held  in  the  Archbishop's  Chapel,  at  Lambeth,  before  which  Wick- 
liffe appeared,  "when  not  only  the  London  citizens,  but  the  mob, 
presumed  to  force  themselves  into  the  chapel,  and  to  speak  in  Dr. 
Wickliffe's  behalf,  to  the  great  terror  of  the  delegates ;  and  that  the 
Queen's  mother  sent  Sir  Lewis  Clifford  to  them  to  forbid  them  to 
proceed  to  any  definitive  sentence  ;"  with  which  message  the  delegates 
are  said  to  have  been  much  confounded  "As  the  reed  of  a  wind 
shaken,"  says  Walsingham,  "  their  speech  became  as  soft  as  oil,  to  the 
public  loss  of  their  own  dignity,  and  the  damage  of  the  whole  church. 
They  were  struck  with  such  dread  that  you  would  think  thorn  to  be  as 
a  man  that  heareth  not,  and  in  whose  mouth  are  no  reproofs."  On 
this  occasion,  Wickliffe  delivered  in  writing  an  elaborate  statement  of 
his  views,  but  the  delegates  commanded  him  to  repeat  no  more  such 
propositions  either  in  his  schools  or  his  a'l-mons. 

Foremost  among  the  defenders  of  the  Church  was  Archbishop 
Arundel,  in  the  reigns  of  Richard  II.,  Henry  IV.,  and  Henry  V. ;  and 
it  is  presumed  that  his  influence  much  contributed  to  pass  the  horrible 
law  referred  to  above;  while  he  has  the  bad  reputation  of  being  the  first 
head  of  the  Church  of  England  who  brought  in  the  argument  t)f  the 
fiery  stake  to  convince  heretics  of  their  heresy.  The  statute  coniletnned 
to  be  burnt  all  wlio  were  eonvictctl  iKibre  the  diocesan  of  obstinate  or 
relapsed  hticsy,  and  commanded  the  sherilVor  otiier  local  niiigistrate  to 


The  Lollards  at  Lambeth  Palace.  6 1 

commit  the  oiTender  against  the  Divine  Majesty  to  the  flames.  In  the 
reigns  of  both  the  Henries  considerable  numbers  thus  suffered  death. 
The  first  sufferer,  William  Sawtre,  was  executed  in  14  lo.  But  Sir 
John  Oldcastle,  Lord  Cobham,  was  the  most  conspicuous  of  the  first 
heretics ;  or  in  other  words,  of  the  first  who  preferred  death  to  insin- 
cerity, under  the  new  law  for  burning  heretics.  His  rank  and  military 
reputation  enhanced,  in  some  respects,  his  merit,  and  gave  more  efficacy 
to  the  example  of  his  martyrdom.  Hem  y  V.  laboured  to  soften  Cob- 
ham's  determination  ;  and  it  was  only  after  his  courageous  refusal  that 
he  was  abandoned  to  Archbishop  Arundel.  Cobham  was  tried,  con- 
victed, and  condemned,  but  escaped  from  his  prison  ;  he  was  retaken, 
and  in  14 17,  executed  under  the  avowed  authority  of  the  Archbishop 
and  his  judicial  synod,  condemning  Oldcastle  as  an  incorrigible  hei-etic. 
Soon  after  passing  the  sentence,  an  inflammation  of  the  throat  speedily 
put  an  end  to  Arundel's  life.  This  incident,  with  a  pardonable  degree 
of  superstition,  considering  the  times,  the  Lollards  transformed  into  a 
special  judgment. 

If  Arundel  merits  the  stigma  of  "  the  fiercest  persecutor  of  the  Lol- 
lards," his  successor.  Archbishop  Chicheley,  has  left  a  more  substantial 
memorial  of  his  conduct  towards  this  sect,  in  the  Lollards^  Toiver  at 
Lambeth,  which  he  built  in  the  years  1434  and  1435.  It  is  a  large 
stone  building,  and  derives  its  name  fiom  the  Lollards'  prison  which  it 
contains,  the  ascent  to  which  is  by  a  narrow  newel  stone  staircase ; 
the  steps  are  much  worn,  and  fill  the  mind  with  gloomy  retrospections 
of  the  many  victims  that  must  have  contributed  to  this  decay.  It 
is  entered  by  a  small,  pointed  stone  doorway,  barely  sufficient  for  one 
person  to  pass  at  a  time;  which  doorway  has  an  inner  and  outer  door 
of  strong  oak,  thickly  studded  with  iron,  and  fastenings  to  correspond. 
Secured  to  the  wainscot  which  lines  the  walls  are  eight  large  iron 
rings.  The  wainscot,  the  ceiling,  and  every  part  of  this  chamber  is 
entirely  lined  with  oak,  nearly  an  inch  and  a  half  in  thickness.  It  has 
two  very  small  windows,  narrowing  outwards.  A  small  chimney  is  on 
the  north  part ;  and  upon  the  sides  are  various  scratches,  half-sentences, 
initials,  and  in  one  or  two  places  a  crucifix,  cut  out  with  a  knife,  or 
some  other  sharp  instrument,  by  the  prisoners  who  are  supposed  to  have 
been  conlined  here. 

Not  only  was  Lambeth  Palace  thus  employed  for  the  punishment  or 
ecclesiastical  offenders,  for  Queen  Elizabeth  appropriated  it  as  a  state- 
prison  :  besides  committing  the  two  Popish  prelates,  Tunstall  and  Thirlby, 
to  the  custody  of  the  Archbishop,  her  Majesty  committed  here 
Other  persons  of  rank.    The  Earl  of  Essex  was  confined  here  before  he 


62  TJie  Lollards  at  Lambeth  Palace. 

was  sent  to  the  Tower.  It  was  usual  for  the  prisoners  to  be  kept  in 
separate  apartments,  and  to  eat  at  the  Archbishop 'a  table.  The  '^ower 
appears  to  have  cost  building  only  278/.  2s.  ii\d.:  the  ironwork  about 
the  windows  and  doors  amounted  to  1322^  lb.  in  weight.  There  is  a 
minute  account  of  the  cost  of  each  item :  a  bricklayer  and  a  tiler's  wages 
were  then,  by  the  day,  with  victuals,  ^d. ;  a  labourer's,  with  victuals, 
3^.,  without  victuals,  3^^^.  On  the  exterior  is  a  niche,  in  which  was 
the  image  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket,  which  image  cost  13J.  ^d.  There 
is  also  a  small  apartment  adjoining  the  porter's  lodge,  and  supposed  to 
have  been  anciently  used  as  a  second  prison  for  confining  the  overflowing 
of  the  Lollards'  Tower.  This  room  has  three  iron  rings  fastened  in  the 
wall ;  it  has  a  double  door ;  the  windows  are  high  and  narrow,  and  the 
walls,  which  are  lined  with  stone,  are  of  prodigious  thickness.  An 
additional  proof  of  the  ancient  appropriation  of  this  room  is,  that  here 
is  the  same  description  of  writing  as  in  the  Lollards'  Tower,  cut  in  the 
wall.  The  name  of  Grafton,  in  the  Old  English  character,  is  perfectly 
legible ;  and  near  it  are  a  cross  and  other  figures  rudely  delineated. 

At  the  Gieat  Gate  of  the  Palace,  built  by  Cardinal  Morton,  about 
1490,  the  Dole,  immemorially  given  by  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury 
to  the  indigent  parishioners  of  Lambeth,  is  constantly  distributed.  Its 
recipients  are  30  poor  widows,  from  sixty  to  seventy  years  of  age,  each 
of  whom,  three  days  a  week,  has  a  loaf,  meat,  and  2\d.  Soup  is  also 
given  to  them,  and  many  other  poor  persons.  The  word  dole  signifies 
a  share  or  portion,  and  is  still  used  in  that  sense;  but  in  foimer  times  it 
was  more  particularly  applied  to  the  alms  (broken  victuals,  &c.),  cus- 
tomarily distiibuted  at  the  gates  of  great  men.  Stow,  in  his  examples 
of  housekeeping,  laments  the  decline  of  this  laudable  custom  in  his  day, 
"  which  before  had  been  so  general  that  almes-dhbes  (into  which  certain 
portions  of  meat  for  the  needy  were  carved),  were  to  be  seen  at  every 
nobleman  and  prelate's  table."  As  the  firet  in  place  and  dignity  under 
the  sovereign,  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury  appear  to  have  exercised 
this  ancient  virtue  of  hospitality  in  a  supercminent  degree;  and  in 
Archbishop  Parker's  Regulations  for  the  ofliccrs  of  his  household  at 
Lambeth,  it  was  ordered  that  there  should  bo  "  no  purloining  of  meat 
left  upon  the  tables,  but  that  it  1)c  putt  into  the  almes-tubb,  and  the 
tubbe  to  l)e  kept  swcete  and  cleane  before  it  be  used  from  time  to  time." 
The  desuetude  of  wliich  Stow  complains  may  pi)ssibly  be  ascribed  to 
the  institution  of  the  Poor-Laws  in  Queen  Elizabtth'b  rcigo. 


63 


Stories  of  the  Savoy. 

The  site  in  the  Strand  which  bears  this  name,  but  is  now  paitly 
occupied  by  the  northern  approach  to  Waterloo  Bridge,  and  the  build- 
ings of  Lancaster  Place,  is  suggestive  of  a  long  train  of  historical 
memories.  More  than  six  centuries  ago,  the  site  was  granted  to  Peter, 
Earl  of  Savoy  and  Richmond,  uncle  unto  Eleanor,  wife  to  King 
Henry  III.,  and  who,  being  on  a  visit  to  his  niece,  in  the  year  1245, 
obtained  by  means  of  her  influence  over  the  King,  not  only  titles  but 
possessions  in  England.  Here  he  erected  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
buildings  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames.  There  were  houses  standing 
upon  the  site  at  the  time,  which  must  have  been  pulled  down  when  he 
built  his  palace.  "In  30  Henry  III.  the  king  granted  to  Peter  de 
Savoy  the  inheritance  of  those  houses  in  the  street  called  the  Strand,  in 
the  suburbs  of  London,  and  adjoining  to  the  river  of  Thames,  formerly 
belonging  to  Brian  de  Lisle,  paying  yearly  to  the  king's  exchequer,  at 
the  Feast  of  St.  Michael,  three  barbed  arrows  for  all  services."  Peter 
de  Savoy,  not  choosing  to  end  his  days  in  England,  bestowed  his 
palace  on  the  fraternity  of  Mountjoy  (or  Priory  de  Cornuto  by  Haver- 
ing-at-the-Bower,  in  Essex),  of  whom  it  was  bought  by  Queen  Eleanor, 
for  Edmund,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  second  son  of  King  Henry  III,  His 
son,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  was  beheaded  during  the  reign  of 
Edward  II.;  and  the  Savoy  then  became  the  property  of  his  brother, 
Henry,  who  enlarged  it,  and  made  it  so  magnificent  in  1328,  at  an 
expense  of  52,000  marks  ("  which  money,"  says  Stow,  "  he  had  ga- 
thered together  at  the  town  of  Bridgerike"),  that  there  was,  according 
to  Knighton,  no  mansion  in  the  realm  to  be  compared  with  it  in  beauty 
and  stateliness.  After  the  decease  of  the  Earl's  son,  the  first  Duke  of 
Lancaster,  in  1351,  one  of  the  daughters  of  the  latter  married  the 
famous  John  of  Gaunt,  who  became,  in  consequence,  the  possessor  of 
the  Savoy.  Six  years  later  occurred  an  event  which  has  bequeathed 
to  the  locality  one  of  its  most  interesting  memories, — the  residence  of 
the  captive  King  John  of  France.  The  battle  of  Poictiers  took  place  on 
the  19th  of  September,  1356,  and  on  the  24th  of  April  following,  the 
King,  with  his  illustrious  conqueror,  the  Black  Prince,  the  darling  of 
our  old  historians,  entered  London,  by  Kent-street,  Southwark,  then 
the  only  public  road  into  London  from  the  south.  It  was  an  obscure 
route.  Yet,  what  long  lines  of  conquest  and  devotion,  of  turmoil  and 
rebellion,  of  victory,  gorgeous  pageantry,  and  grim  death,  have  poured 
through  this  narrow  inlet  of  old  London  I    The  Roman  invader  came 


64  Stories  of  tits  Savoy. 

along  the  rich  mai-shy  ground  now  supporting  "  Kentish-stieet;"  thou- 
sands of  pious  and  weary  pilgrims  have  passed  along  this  causeway  to 
St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury ;  and  here  the  Black  Prince  rode  with  his  royal 
captive  from  Poictiei^s,  and  the  victor  of  Agincourt  was  carried  in  kingly 
state  to  his  last  earthly  bourne.  By  this  route,  Cade  advanced  with  his 
20,000  insurgents  from  Blackheath  to  Southwai-k ;  and  the  ill-fated 
Wyat  marched  to  discomfiture  and  death.  The  Black  Prince  was  re- 
ceived with  excessive  joy,  but  constantly  refused  all  honoui"s  that  were 
offered  to  him,  being  satisfied  with  those  paid  to  the  captive  king.  Lin- 
gard  says:  "  His  father  had  given  the  necessary  directions  for  his  entry 
into  the  capital,  under  pretence  of  doing  honour  to  the  King  of  Finance; 
an  unwelcome  honour,  which  served  to  remind  that  monarch  of  his 
captivity,  and  to  make  him  the  principal  omament  in  the  triumph  of  his 
conqueror."  He  was  received  by  Henry  Picard,  the  Mayor,  and 
the  AldeiTnen,  in  all  their  formalities,  with  the  City  pageants;  and 
in  the  streets,  as  he  passed  to  ^^^estminster,  the  citizens  hung  out  all 
their  plate,  tapestry,  and  armour,  so  that  the  like  had  never  been  seen 
before  in  the  memory  of  man. 

With  the  same  touching  delicacy  of  feeling  which  characterized  all 
the  proceedings  of  the  Prince  towards  his  prisoner,  from  the  first  supper 
after  the  battle,  (when  he  served  the  French  monarch  kneeling,  and  re- 
fused to  sit  at  table  with  him,)  John  was  now  mounted  on  a  richly 
caparisoned  cream-coloured  charger,  while  the  Prince  rode  by  his  side 
on  a  little  black  palfrey.  The  accompanying  procession  was  most  mag- 
nificent. The  Savoy  was  appropriated  to  King  John  during  the  period  of 
his  stay;  and  "thither,"  says  Froissart,  "  came  to  see  him  the  King  and 
Queen  oftentimes,  and  made  him  great  feast  and  cheer.  The  ne- 
gotiations as  to  John's  ransom  were  long  protracted,  and  it  was  not  till 
October,  1 360,  that  the  terms  were  settled ;  when  all  the  parties  being 
at  Calais,  the  French  king  and  twenty-four  of  his  barons  on  the  one 
side,  and  Edward,  with  twenty-seven  of  his  barons  on  the  other,  swore 
to  observe  the  conditions,  and  John  was  liberated  on  the  following  day. 
He  returned  to  France,  but  was  unable  to  fulfil  his  portion  of  the 
treaty ;  and  to  add  to  his  mortification,  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Anjou, 
entered  Paris  from  Calais,  where  he  had  been  permitted  by  the  English, 
whose  prisoner  he  was,  to  reside,  and  which  he  had  only  been  able  to 
leave  by  breaking  his  parole.  These,  and  it  is  said,  various  other  and 
more  doubtful  circumstances,  made  him  resolve  upon  a  line  of  conduct 
which  his  courtiers  vainly  strove  to  drive  him  from  by  ridicule  ;  and  to 
the  astonishment  of  all  parties,  lie  suddenly  returned  to  London,  whctp 
br  was  received  with  open  arms  by  Edward,  and  took  up  his  final  resi- 


Stories  of  the  Savoy.  €■(, 

dencc  at  the  Savoy.  Under  the  date  1364,  we  tind  in  Stow's  Chronicle 
the  following  passage:  "The  9th  day  of  April,  died  John,  King  of 
France,  at  the  Savoy,  beside  Westminster ;  his  corpse  was  honoui-ably 
conveyed  to  St.  Denis,  in  France." 

John  of  Gaunt  lived  at  the  Savoy  in  almost  regal  state,  and  here, 
which  is  a  fact  more  interesting  than  his  magnificence,  Geoffrey 
Chaucer  was  his  frequent  guest.  Here,  under  the  protection  of  the 
Duke  of  Lancaster  and  his  amiable  J')uchc8s  Blanche,  Chaucer  passed 
the  happiest  hours  of  his  life ;  and  here  also  he  found  a  wite  in  the 
person  of  Philippa,  a  lady  of  the  Duchess'  household,  and  sister  to  the 
Lady  Catherine  Swynford.  The  date  of  Chaucer's  poem,  the  Assembly 
of  Fowls,  or  the  Parliament  of  Birds,  may  be  referred  to  the  year  1358, 
upon  the  supposition,  which  appears  to  be  generally  admitted,  that  it 
was  composed  with  reference  to  the  intended  marriage  between  John 
of  Gaunt  and  Blanche  of  Lancaster,  which  took  place  in  1359,  and 
which  the  lady  is  represented  in  the  poem  as  deferring  for  a  twelve- 
month. From  this  circumstance,  also,  we  gather  the  not  unimportant 
fact,  that  at  this  time  Chaucer  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  John  of 
Gaunt.  The  poem  called  The  Dream  is  supposed  to  have  been  written 
on  the  occasion  of  the  nuptials.  Chaucer's  own  marriage  with  Philippa, 
the  maid  of  honour  in  the  royal  household,  subsequently  brought  him 
into  the  most  intimate  relations  with  John  of  Gaunt,  and  the  Duke's 
regard  for  Chaucer  and  his  wife  was  evinced  by  many  substantial  gifts. 
Some  of  Chaucer's  finest  poems  were  composed  in  the  Savoy,  and  were 
on  the  subject  of  its  inmates  ;  among  which  must  be  especially  noticed 
the  one  entitled  Clxiucers  Dream,  which  is  an  allegorical  history  of  the 
loves  of  John  of  Gaunt  and  Blanche  of  Lancaster,  and  of  his  own  mar- 
riage with  the  Lady  Philippa.  Whether  the  poet  was  married  in  the 
Savoy,  or  in  the  neighbouring  church,  does  not  appear. 

During  John  of  Gaunt's  occupancy,  the  Savoy  was  twice  pillaged  by 
a  mob.  The  first  occasion  was  in  the  year  1376,  when  the  Duke  had 
made  himself  unpopular  by  his  bold  speech  to  the  Bishop  of  London  in 
St.  Paul's  church,  at  the  citation  of  Wickliffe.  Lord  Percy,  the  fi-iend 
of  John  of  Gaunt,  had  requested  that  Wicklifle  might  be  allowed  to 
sit ;  but  the  Bishop  of  London  replied  that  he  must  stand  up  and  re- 
main uncovered,  for  he  appeared  there  as  a  criminal,  and  no  criminal 
could  be  allowed  to  sit  in  the  presence  of  his  judges.  John  of  Gaunt, 
in  great  anger,  turned  to  the  Bishop,  and  exclaimed,  loud  enough  tc  be 
lieaid  by  the  whole  assembly,  that  "  he  would  humble  his  pride,  and 
the  pride  of  every  arrogant  bishop  in  the  kingdom."  The  prelate  mad« 
some  reply,  which  increased  the  anger  of  the  Duke  of  LancasfcT  yj 
*  g 


(i6  Stories  of  the  Savoy. 

much,  that  he  turned  pale  in  the  face,  and  whispered  in  the  ear  of  t>ie 
Bishop,  that  rather  than  sit  there  and  be  insulted  by  a  priest,  he  would 
drag  him  out  of  the  church  by  the  hair  of  his  head.  The  threat  was 
heard  by  the  nearest  bystander,  and  was  soon  whispered  from  one  to 
another  till  everybody  in  the  church  was  aware  of  it.  It  then  became 
rumoured  among  the  populace,  who,  anxious  for  the  condemnation  of 
Wickliffe,  had  assembled  in  great  numbers  in  the  churchyard.  A  cry 
immediately  arose  among  them,  and  it  was  proposed  to  break  into  the 
church,  and  pull  John  of  Gaunt  fi-om  his  judgment-seat.  At  his  de- 
parture he  was  received  with  yells  by  the  mob,  who  ran  after  him  and 
pelted  him  with  dirt.  He  was  so  exasperated  against  them,  that  he  pro- 
ceeded immediately  to  Westminster,  where  the  Parliament  was  sitting^ 
and  in  his  place  as  President,  introduced  a  motion  that  fiom  that  day 
forth  all  the  privileges  of  the  citizens  of  London  should  be  annulled ; 
and  that  there  should  be  no  longer  a  lord  mayor,  sheriff,  or  other 
popular  magistrates,  and  that  the  entire  jurisdiction  within  tlw?  City 
should  be  vested  in  Lord  Percy,  the  Chief  Marshal  of  England.  When 
news  of  this  proposal  reached  the  citizens  on  the  following  day,  they 
assembled  in  great  numbers,  swearing  to  have  the  life  of  the  Duke 
After  pillaging  the  Marshalsea,  where  Lord  Percy  resided,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  Savoy,  and  killed  a  priest  whom  they  found  in  the  house, 
and  thought  to  be  Lord  Percy  in  disguise.  They  then  broke  all  the 
valuable  furniture,  threw  the  fragments  into  the  Thames,  and  left 
little  more  standing  than  the  bare  walls  of  the  palace.  John  of  Gaunt 
and  Lord  Percy  were  dining  at  the  house  of  a  wealthy  merchant  in  the 
City,  when  this  news  reached  them ;  and  from  thence  they  escaped  in 
disguise  by  rowing  up  the  river  in  an  open  boat,  passing  the  Savoy  at 
the  very  moment  while  the  mob  were  throwing  the  magnificent  furni- 
ture from  the  windows.  But  for  the  Bishop  of  London,  who,  hearing 
of  the  riot,  had  hurried  to  the  Savoy,  the  palace  would  no  doubt  have 
bcx'n  destroyed,  as  it  was  a  little  later,  under  very  similar  circumstances. 
The  people,  to  show  their  opinion  of  the  Duke,  reversed  his  arms,  traitor- 
fashion.  The  civic  authorities  were  obliged  to  exhibit  a  very  diflcrent 
demeanour:  one  of  the  last  audiences  given  by  Edward  II L  was  that 
to  the  lord  mayor  and  aldermen,  at  Shene  (Richmond),  who  came  to 
crave  pardon  of  the  Duke,  in  his  presence,  for  their  grievous  oflciice. 
Not  thi-  less,  however,  were  they  all  ousted  from  oHicc  by  the  powerful 
Duke,  and  creatures  of  his  own  substituted. 

Five  years  afterwards,  a  still  more  serious  attack  was  maile  upon  the 
Savoy.  John  of  Gaiuit  being  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  rebels  under 
vVat  'i'ylcr,  the  whulc  body  of  the  inburj^ents,  under  the  guidance  of 


Stories  of  the  Savoy,  6j 

that  chief,  marched  to  the  Savoy  with  the  intention  of  burning  it  to  the 
ground.  Proclamation  was  previously  made  by  the  leaders  that,  as 
their  object  was  not  plunder,  all  the  rich  jewels,  furniture,  pictures, 
plate,  and  other  articles,  should  be  burned,  or  thiovvn  into  the  Thames; 
and  that  any  one  appropriating  the  property  to  his  own  uses,  should 
suffer  death.  The  Duke  of  Lancaster  was  then  absent  pursuing  the  war 
in  Scotland,  and  the  attack  being  sudden,  no  means  of  defence  were 
taken  by  those  in  possession  of  the  palace.  It  is  not  true,  as  stated  in 
Hardyng's  Chronicle,  that  the  Duke  was  in  the  palace  at  the  time,  and 
fled  into  Scotland  in  consequence.  John  of  Gaunt  was  no  such  craven ; 
and  if  he  had  been  in  London,  and  had  fled,  he  would  not  have  fled  to 
such  a  distance.  No  palace  in  Christendom,  at  that  time,  contained 
greater  wealth  than  the  palace  of  the  Savoy  ;  and  the  greater  portion  of 
it  was  destroyed.  The  rebels  broke  the  vessels  of  gold  and  silver  into 
small  pieces,  and  threw  them  into  the  Thames  ;  they  tore  the  rich  hang- 
ings of  velvet,  silk,  and  embroidered  drapery,  together  with  an  immense 
quantity  of  linen  and  wearing  apparel  into  shreds,  or  burned  it ;  and 
the  rings  or  jewels  were  broken  in  mortars,  and  the  fragments  thrown 
into  the  flames,  or  into  the  river.  It  is  said  that  one  of  the  mob  being 
seen  to  hide  a  valuable  piece  of  plate  in  his  bosom,  he  was  thrust  into 
the  fire  with  his  booty,  and  burned  to  death,  amidst  the  shouts  of  his 
fellows,  who  exclaimed  that  they  were  freemen  and  lovers  of  justice, 
not  thieves  or  robbers.  They  were  less  scrupulous  as  regards  wine : 
the  rich  citizens  had  set  open  their  cellars,  and  they  had  drunk  of  the 
wines  to  such  excess  that  they  were  maddened.  Thirty-two  of  the 
rebels  broke  into  a  cellar  of  the  Savoy,  where  they  drank  so  much  wine 
that  they  were  prevented  getting  out  in  ti  me,  by  masses  of  felling  stones 
and  rubbish  from  the  burning  palace,  and  they  died  of  suffocation ;  or, 
as  Stow  says,  the  door  being  walled-up,  they  were  heard  crying  and 
calling  seven  days  after,  but  none  came  to  help  them  out  till  they 
were  dead.  Some  of  the  rioters  found  a  number  of  barrels,  which  they 
thought  to  contain  gold  and  silver,  and  flung  them  into  the  flames. 
They  contained  gunpowder ;  an  awful  explosion  was  the  consequence, 
which  blew  up  the  great  hall,  and  destroyed  several  houses. 

One  of  the  scenes  in  Shakespeare's  Richard  II.  is  supposed  to  pass  in 
a  room  of  the  Savoy,  though  at  the  date  it  was  a  heap  of  ruins. 
Thus  it  lay  until  1505,  when  Henry  VII.  had  the  site  cleared,  and  com- 
menced building  thereon  a  Hospital  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  "  to  receive 
and  lodge  nightly  one  hundred  poor  folks."  The  master  and  brethren 
were  to  stand  alternately  by  day  and  night  at  the  gate,  and  if  they  saw 
any  poor  distressed  persons  they  were  to  ask  them  in  and  feed  them.    If 

F  a 


6S  Stories  of  the  Savoy. 

such  persons  were  travellers,  they  were  to  be  lodged  for  the  night,  and 
dismissed  on  the  following  morning,  with  a  letter  of  recommendation  to 
the  next  Hospital,  and  as  much  money  as  would  defray  their  expenses 
on  the  road.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  part  of  the  revenues  of  the 
Savoy  Hospital  was  bestowed  on  Bridewell  and  Christchurch,  on 
account  of  the  abuses,  for  instead  of  the  Savoy  being  a  lodging  for 
pilgrims  and  strangers,  it  became  a  noisome  refuge  for  loiterers,  vagabonds, 
and  disreputable  women ;  they  lay  all  day  in  the  field,  and  were 
harboured  there  at  night,  so  that  the  hospital  was  rather  a  maintenance 
of  beggary,  than  any  relief  to  the  poor.  It  was  re-endowed  and  re- 
fumished  by  Queen  Mary,  and  maintained  by  Elizabeth  ;  but  the 
buildings  and  revenues  were  shamefully  perverted,  and  Fleetwood, 
the  Recorder  of  London,  describes  the  Savoy  to  Lord  Burghley,  as  a 
nursery  of  rogues  and  masterless  men  :  "  the  chief  nurserie  of  all  the 
evell  people  in  the  Savoy  and  the  brick-kilnes  near  Islington."  This 
state  of  things  continued  until  the  commencement  of  Queen  Anne's 
reign,  when  the  hospital  was  finally  dissolved.  Here,  in  1658,  the 
Independents  met,  and  agreed  upon  their  well-known  Declaration  of 
Faith ;  three  years  later  was  held  here  the  "  Savoy  Conference"  for  the 
revision  of  the  Liturgy  ;  and  Charles  II.  established  here  "the  French 
Church  in  the  Savoy." 

The  Mastership  of  the  Savoy  was  promised  to  the  poet  Cowley  by 
Charles  I.,  and  afterwards  by  Charles  II.  The  latter  gave  the  oft'ce  to 
Dr.  Killigrew,  "through  certain  persons,  enemies  of  the  Muses." 
Cowley's  disappointment  was  great;  and  to  add  to  his  chagrin,  his  play 
oiihc  Cutter  of  Colman  Street,  was  unsuccessful  at  the  same  time.  In 
his  despondency,  he  wrote  his  poem  of  The  Complaint ;  and  in  an 
anonymous  satire,  published  at  the  time,  he  is  represented  as  "  Savoy- 
missing  Cowley  making  apologies  for  his  bad  play."  In  this  reign  also, 
during  the  Dutch  war,  the  sick  and  wounded  were  lodged  in  the 
Hospital ;  and  great  part  of  it  was  dilapidated  by  iire.  On  the  demo- 
lition of  the  old  church  of  St.  Mary-lc-Strand,  by  the  Protector  Somer- 
set, the  Hospital  Chaptl  was  allotted  to  that  parish.  There  is  a  tradi- 
tion that  when  the  Lituigy  in  the  vernacular  tongue  was  restored  by 
Queen  Elizabeth,  the  chapel  of  the  Savoy  was  the  first  place  in  which 
the  service  was  performed.  Several  persons  of  note  are  binicd  here, 
with  figure  monuments;  among  them  was  a  memorial,  ratlier  sumptuous, 
t-rcctul  about  1715,  in  honour  of  a  merchant :  the  sole  statement  of  the 
epitaph  was,  that  he  had  bccjueathcd  rj.  to  the  poor  of  the  Savoy 
Precinct,  and  a  like  smn  to  the  poor  of  St.  Mary-le-Strand  ;  while  at 
the  tide,  and  0(xup)ing  about  half  the  brea<Uh  of  the  marble,  the 


Stories  of  the  Savoy.  69 

money  was  expressed  in  figures,  just  as  in  a  page  of  a  ledger,  with 
lines  single  and  double,  perpendicular,  an.!,  at  the  bottom,  hori- 
zontal ;  the  whole  being  summed  up,  and  in  each  line  two  ciphers  for 
shillings  and  one  for  pence.  The  epitaph  concluded  with  "  which  sum 
was  duly  paid  by  his  executors."  A  strange  custom  prevails  here  to 
this  day :  on  the  Sunday  following  Christmas  Day,  a  chair  is  placed 
near  the  chapel-door,  covered  with  a  cloth ;  on  the  chair  is,  in  a  plate, 
an  orange.     The  object  of  this  custom  is  not  recorded. 

Contemporary  with  the  Fleet  and  Mayfair  mairiages,  the  priest  at 
the  Savoy  Chapel  carried  on  a  like  traffic  ;  and  in  the  Public  Advertiser^ 
Jan.  2,  1754,  marriages  are  advertised  by  authority,  to  be  performed 
here  "  with  the  utmost  privacy,  decency,  and  regularity ;"  also,  registers 
from  the  time  of  the  Reformation  were  kept  here.  While  the  Dutch, 
German,  and  French  congregations  met  quietly  within  the  pre- 
cinct,—  a  favour  which  was  originally  owing  to  Charles  II.,  —  all 
sorts  of  unseemly  marriages  were  celebrated  by  the  "  Savoy  parsons," 
there  being  five  private  ways  by  land  to  this  chapel,  and  two  by  water. 
The  Rev.  Mr.  Wilkinson,  the  father  of  Tate  Wilkinson,  the  actor, 
tor  performing  the  illicit  ceremony,  was  informed  against  by  Garrick, 
and  the  disreputable  functionary  was  transported.  The  chapel 
also  possessed  the  privilege  of  sanctuary;  and  in  July,  1696,  a 
creditor  going  into  the  Savoy  to  demand  a  debt  of  a  person  who 
had  taken  sanctuary  there,  was  seized  by  the  mob,  according  to 
their  usual  custom  (says  the  Poitman,  No,  180),  and  was  tarred 
and  feathered,  and  canied  in  a  wheelbarrow  to  the  Strand,  there 
bound  fast  to  the  Maypole,  and  so  he  remained  until  he  was  rescued 
by  constables. 

The  Savoy  was  last  used  as  banacks  and  a  prison  for  deserters,  im- 
pressed men,  convict  soldiers  and  offenders  from  the  Guards:  at  one 
period  their  allowance  was  only  fourpence  a  day.  In  18 iQ,  the  pre- 
mises were  taken  down  to  form  the  road  to  Waterloo  Bridge.  The 
approach  to  the  bridge  from  the  Strand,  or  AV'ellington-street  and 
Lancaster- place,  covers  the  entire  site  of  the  old  Duchy-lane  and  great 
part  of  the  Hospital.  We  see  the  river  front  of  the  Savoy  in  Hollar's 
prints  and  Canaletti's  pictures ;  and  Vertue's  ground-plan  shows  the 
Middle  Savoy  Gate,  where  Savoy-street  now  is  ;  and  the  Little  Savoy 
Gate,  where  now  aie  Savoy-steps.  It  was  a  massive  brick,  stone,  and 
flint,  fortress-like  building,  embattled  throughout ;  the  outer  walls 
abutted  upon  the  Thames,  where  was  a  flight  of  steps  to  the  water ;  the 
principal  or  Strand  front  had  large  pointed  windows,  and  parapets 
'ozenged  with  flints.  Over  the  Great  Gate  were  the  aims  of  Henry  VII., 


70  Siege  of  Essex  Houst. 

and  the  badges  ot  the  rose,  flexir-de-lis,  and  portcullis;  and  this 
inscription  (JVeever) : — 

"  Hospitium  hoc  inopi  turba  Savoia  vocatum 
Septimus  Henricus  fundavit  ab  imo  Solo." 

The  pulling  down  of  the  last  of  the  ruins  in  i8r6,  when  the  chapel  was 
left  isolated,  was  a  work  of  immense  labour,  so  massive  was  the 
masonry.  Not  the  least  amusing  incident  was  that  of  the  gamins  pick- 
ing out  the  softest  parts  of  the  Royal  palace  and  cutting  them  into 
hearthstones  to  clean  hearths  and  the  steps  before  doors ! 


Siege  of  Essex  House. — Queen  Elizabeth's  Ring. 

The  first  of  the  magnificent  mansions  situated  upon  Thames  bank, 
from  Temple  Bar,  was  Exeter  House,  an  inn  belonging  to  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter,  afterwards  called  Paget  House,  Norfolk  House,  and  Leicester 
House,  bequeathed  by  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  to  his  son-in-law, 
the  unhappy  Robert  Devereux,  Earl  of  Essex,  the  last  favourite  of 
Elizabeth.  It  was  then  called  Essex  House,  and  become  more  cele- 
brated than  it  ever  was  before.  While  still  in  the  occupation  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  we  should  not  forget  to  mention  that  the  author  of 
"  The  Fairy  Queen,"  was  a  frequent  visitor  there,  and  that  his  visits  did 
not  altogether  cease  when  the  house  came  into  new  hands.  Spenser  had 
received  assistance  from  Leicester,  and  thus  writes  in  his  Prothalamion ; 
he  has  been  speaking  of  the  Temple : — 

"  Next  whereunto  there  stands  a  stately  place 
Where  oft  I  jjayned  giftos  ami  goodly  grace 

Of  that  groat  lord,  which  therein  wont  to  dwell, 
Where  want  too  well  now  feels  my  friendless  case ; 

Hut,  ah  !  here  fits  not  well 

Olde  woes,  but  joycs,  to  tell 
Against  the  bridale  daye,  which  is  not  long: 

Sweet  Ihemmes !  runnc  softly  till  I  end  my  song. 

••Yet  therein  doth  lodge  a  noble  peer, 

Great  England's  glory,  and  the  world's  wide  wonder, 
Whose  dreadfull  name  late  through  all  Spain  did  thunder, 

And  Hercules'  two  pillars  standing  near 

Did  niake  to  quake  and  feare. 

I'aire  branch  oi  honour,  llowcr  of  chevalrie  ! 

'I'hou  fillest  England  with  thy  triumph's  fame, 

Joy  have  thou  of  thy  noble  victorie." 

The  chief  memory  of  this  place  is,  of  course,  connected  with  Essex,  and 
the  rash  act  for  which  he  was  executed.  I'lli/abeth  and  he  had  (juai- 
R'Hcd  mure  than  once  or  twice  before  the  last  irrcconcileablc  diirercnc& 


Siege  of  Essex  House.  7 1 

She  had  been  offended  by  his  conduct  in  joining  the  expedition  to  Cadiz 
without  her  permission  ;  by  his  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  r«ir 
Francis  Walsingham ;  and  above  all,  by  a  dispute  concerning  tne 
appointment  of  an  assistant  in  the  affairs  of  Ireland,  when  he  was  about 
to  visit  that  country  as  Lord  Deputy.  This  last  quarrel  terminated  in 
her  boxing  his  ears,  and  bidding  him  "  go  and  be  hanged."  The  pro- 
vocation was,  it  is  said,  his  turning  his  back  upon  her.  The  indignant 
noble  clapped  his  hand  to  his  sword,  and  swore  he  would  not  have  put 
up  with  such  an  insult  from  Henry  VIII.  It  was  in  Essex  House  that 
the  high-spirited,  hot-blooded,  and  ambitious  Earl  shut  himself  up  after 
he  had  received  the  box  on  the  ear.  That  hasty  blow  and  its  results  k-d 
to  his  ruin.  He  might  have  curbed  his  pride  a  little  when  he  reflected 
that  it  was  but  a  woman's  hand  that  indicted  it ;  and  instead  of  resent- 
ing it,  as  he  did,  he  might  have  affected  to  consider  it  as  a  proof  that  he 
was  not  altogether  indifferent  to  her.  In  fact,  it  showed  Elizabeth's 
tender  regard  for  the  man ;  but  Essex  did  not  feel  the  tenderness  for 
her  that  she  felt  for  him.  He  then  retired  hastily  from  Court  to  Essex 
House,  where  he  shut  himself  up  for  some  days,  refusing  to  see  any  but 
his  most  intimate  friends.  Sir  Thomas  Egerton,  the  Chancellor,  wrote 
to  him  to  make  proper  submission,  but  Essex  stoutly  refused.  "  If  the 
vilest  of  all  indignities  is  done  me,"  he  wrote  to  the  Chancellor,  in 
reply,  "  does  religion  enforce  me  to  sue  for  pardon  ?  Doth  God  require 
it  ?  Is  it  not  impiety  to  do  it  ?  Why  ?  Cannot  princes  err?  Cannot 
subjects  receive  wrong  ?  Is  an  earthly  power  infinite  ?  Pardon  me,  my 
Lord,  I  never  can  subscribe  to  these  principles.  Let  Solomon's  fool 
laugh  when  he  is  stricken  ;  let  those  that  mean  to  make  their  price  of 
princes  show  no  sense  of  princes'  injuries.  As  for  me,  I  have  received 
wrong — I  feel  it.  My  cause  is  good — I  know  it.  And  whatsoever 
happens,  all  the  powers  on  earth  can  never  exert  more  strength  and 
constancy  in  oppressing,  than  I  can  show  in  suffering  everything  that 
can  or  shall  be  imposed  upon  me." 

When  this  letter,  containing  so  many  noble  passages,  was  shown  to 
Eliznbeth,  she  had  good  sense  enough  to  perceive  the  fine  manly  feeling 
that  pervaded  it,  and  perhaps  loved  Essex  all  the  more  for  his  in- 
dependence and  scorn  of  flattery.  He  was  soon  drawn  from  his  retire- 
ment in  the  Strand,  and  sent  as  Lord  Lieutenant  to  Ireland,  surrounded 
by  a  brilliant  staff,  and  was  followed  for  some  miles  by  crowds  of 
Londoners,  crying,  "  God  bless  your  Lordship — God  presei^ve  you!'' 
His  discontent  and  impatience,  while  in  Ireland,  are  well  known.  He 
neither  liked  the  service,  nor  the  absence  from  Court,  which  it  occa- 
sioned.   He  was  afraid  that  his  enemies  at  home  were  endeavouring  to 


72  Siege  of  Essex  House. 

supplant  him ;  and  in  all  his  letters  to  Elizabeth  at  this  time,  he  ex- 
pressed a  dissatisfaction  which  to  her  seemed  anything  but  loyal. 
Essex  -wished  he  could  live  like  a  hennit  "  in  some  unhaunted  desart 
most  obscure" — 

"  From  all  society,  from  love  and  hate 
Of  worldly  folk ;  then  should  he  sleep  secure, 
Then  wake  again,  and  yield  God  every  praise. 

Content  with  hips  and  hawes,  and  bramble  berry; 
In  contemplation  parting  out  his  days. 

And  change  of  holy  thoughts  to  make  him  merry; 
Who,  when  he  dies,  his  tomb  may  be  a  bush. 
Where  harmless  robin  dwells  with  gentle  thrush. 
Your  Majesty's  exiled  servant, 

Robert  Essex." 

He  suddenly  returned  from  his  government,  and  without  stopping  at 
his  own  house,  hastened  to  the  palace  before  any  one  knew  of  his 
return,  and  besmeared  with  dirt  and  sweat,  from  hard  riding,  forced  his 
way  into  Her  Majesty's  bedchamber.  The  Queen  had  just  risen,  and 
was  sitting  with  her  hair  about  her  face.  Essex  fell  on  his  knees,  kissed 
her  hand,  and  was  so  well  received  that  he  flattered  himself  he  had  made 
a  masterstroke  of  policy:  he  left  her,  thanking  God  that,  though  he  had 
suffered  much  trouble  and  stonns  abroad,  he  found  a  sweet  calm  at 
home.  The  calm  was  but  of  short  continuance ;  the  Cecils  and  others 
were  at  work,  and  that  very  evening  he  was  ordered  to  consider  himself 
a  prisoner  in  his  room.  After  eight  months  of  restraint  he  wrote  a 
touching  appeal  to  the  Queen,  which  was  not  answered  for  three  months 
more,  when  he  was  released,  but  ordered  not  to  appear  at  Court,  or 
approach  Her  Majesty's  person. 

But  the  patience  of  Essex  could  not  endure  for  ever.  In  a  few  days 
a  valuable  patent  he  held  for  the  monopoly  of  sweet  wines  expired,  and 
he  petitioned  for  a  renewal  to  aid  his  shattered  fortunes.  It  was  re- 
ftised;  and  in  a  most  mortifying  manner.  "In  order  to  manage  an 
ungovernable  beast,  he  must  be  stinted  in  his  provender,"  was  the 
Queen's  reply.  Essex  now  became  desper.ite.  He  was  advised  to 
remove  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  Raleigh,  and  others  forcibly  from  Court, 
and  so  make  the  way  clear  lor  the  recovery  of  his  ascendancy.  Other 
men  joined  in  this  advice,  and  Essex,  relying  upon  his  popularity  with 
the  Lcndoners,  determined  to  adopt  it.  A  strong  party  of  odicers  who 
had  served  under  him,  took  lodging  about  Essex  House,  and  formed 
thcmcclvcs  into  a  coiuicil.  The  gales  of  Essex  House  were  thrown  open 
to  Hocks  of  Catholic  priests,  Puritan  preachers,  soldiers,  sailors,  young 
citi/.en8,  and  needy  adventurers.  These  proceedings,  of  course,  at- 
tracted the  notice  of  the  Govenuncnt,  and  Essex  was  suuunoned  to 


Siege  of  Essex  House.  73 

appcnr  before  the  Privy  Council.  A  note  from  an  unknown  writer, 
warning  him  to  provide  for  his  safety,  was  at  the  same  moment  put  inta 
his  hand,  and  he  was  informed  that  the  guard  at  the  palace  had  been 
doubled.  On  the  following  Sunday  morning,  Feb.  8,  1600-1,  he 
marched  into  the  City,  during  sermon-time  at  St.  Paul's  Cross,  and 
called  upon  the  people  to  join  him,  and  force  his  way  to  the  Queen. 
His  dear  fiiend,  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  with  the  Earl  of  Rutland, 
Lords  Sandys  and  Mounteagle,  and  about  300  gentlemen,  were  ready 
to  accompany  him,  when  the  Lord  Keeper  Egerton,  Sir  William 
Knollys,  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  Popham,  and  the  Earl  of  \\'orcester 
arrived,  and  demanded  the  cause  of  the  disturbance.  They  were 
admitted  without  their  attendants ;  when  Egerton  and  Popham  asked 
what  all  this  meant.  "  There  is  a  plot  laid  against  my  life,"  was  the 
reply,  uttered  in  a  loud  and  impassioned  tone:  "letters  have  been  forged 
in  my  name — men  have  been  hired  to  murder  me  in  my  bed — mine 
enemies  cannot  be  satisfied  unless  they  suck  my  blood !"  The  Lord 
Chief  Justice  said  he  ought  to  explain  his  case  to  the  Queen,  who 
would  do  impartial  justice.  Some  voices  now  cried  out,  "  They  abuse 
you,  my  lord — they  betray  you — you  are  losing  time !"  The  Lord 
Keeper,  then  putting  on  his  hat,  commanded  the  assembly,  in  the 
Queen's  name,  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and  depart.  Louder  cries  now 
broke  out,  "  Kill  them  !  kill  them  ! — keep  them  for  hostages ! — away 
with  the  Great  Seal !"  Essex  immediately  conducted  them  to  an  inner 
apartment,  bolted  the  door,  and  placed  a  guard  of  musqueteers  to  watcn 
it.  Drawing  his  sword,  he  rushed  out,  followed  by  most  of  the  as- 
sembly. At  St.  Paul's  Cross,  to  their  surprise,  they  found  no  preach- 
ing— no  congregation — the  Queen  having  sent  orders  to  that  effect  to 
the  Lord  Mayor  and  Aldermen.  The  Earl,  addressing  the  citizens  he 
met  with,  cried,  "  For  the  Queen,  my  mistress  ! — a  plot  is  laid  for  my 
life  !"  and  entreated  them  to  arm.  But  they  contented  themselves  with 
crying,  "  God  bless  your  Honour !"  and  left  him  to  his  fate. 

Uncertain  what  to  do,  Essex  went  to  the  house  of  one  of  the  sheriffs, 
and  remained  for  some  time.  About  two  in  the  afternoon,  he  again 
went  forth,  and  passed  to  and  fro  though  many  streets,  till,  seeing  that 
his  followers  were  tast  disappearing,  he  directed  his  footsteps  to  Essex 
House.  Barricades  had  been  formed  in  the  meantime,  and  at  Ludgate 
he  was  attacked  by  a  large  body  of  armed  men  whom  the  Bishop  of 
London  had  placed  there.  Several  persons  were  wounded  in  the  affray, 
ilssex  was  twice  shot  through  the  hat,  and  his  stepfather.  Sir  Christo- 
pher Blount,  was  severely  wounded  and  taken  prisoner.  The  Earl  re- 
treated into  Fi  iday-sti-eet,  where,  being  faint,  drink  was  given  him  by 


74  Siege  of  Essex  House. 

the  citizens.  At  Queenhithe  he  obtained  a  boat,  and  so  got  back  to 
Essex  House,  where  he  found  that  his  last  hope,  the  hostages,  were 
gone.  He  now  determined  to  retreat.  He  turned  back  for  that  pur- 
pose, but  found  that  the  streets  had  been  barricaded  against  him  by  the 
citizens  and  a  strong  company  under  the  command  of  Sir  John  Levison. 
He  attempted,  however,  to  force  his  way ;  and  in  the  skirmish  which 
ensued,  Tracy,  a  young  man  to  whom  he  bore  great  friendship,  was 
killed.  The  Earl  then  struck  suddenly  down  into  one  of  the  narrow 
passages  leading  from  Fleet- street  to  the  river,  at  the  bottom  of  which 
he  and  several  of  his  company  procured  boats  and  rowed  themselves  to 
Essex  House,  the  garden  of  which  abutted  on  the  Thames.  Essex,  re. 
duced  to  despair,  now  determined  to  fortify  his  house ;  but  a  great 
force  hemmed  him  in  on  all  sides  ;  and  several  pieces  of  artillery  were 
planted  against  the  house,  among  the  rest  one  on  the  tower  of  the 
church  of  St.  Clement  Danes.  He  stood  a  siege  of  four  hours :  about 
ten  at  night  he  demanded  a  parley,  and  surrendered  to  the  Lord  Ad- 
miral upon  a  promise  of  a  hearing,  and  a  speedy  trial.  It  being  very 
dark,  and  the  tide  not  sei-ving  to  pass  the  cumbrous  and  dangerous 
London  Bridge  to  the  Tower,  Essex  and  Lord  Southampton  were  con- 
veyed up  the  river  in  a  boat  to  Lambeth  Palace,  where  they  passed  the 
night.  On  the  following  moming  they  were  conducted  to  the  Tower, 
together  with  the  Earl  of  Rutland,  Lords  Sandys,  Cromwell,  and 
Mounteagle,  Sir  John  Danvers,  and  Sir  Henry  Bromlty.  Others,  pri- 
soners of  inferior  note,  were  conveyed  to  Newgate. 

Ten  days  afterwards,  Essex  and  Southampton  were  brought  to  trial, 
and  found  guilty  of  high  treason.  Essex  was  executed  on  Ash 
Wednesday,  the  25th  of  February,  about  eight  in  the  morning,  in  an 
inner  court  of  the  Tower — Sir  Walter  Raleigh  looking  on  from  the 
Annoury.  It  was  said  the  execution  was  made  thus  private  from  the 
Queen's  fear  of  what  Essex  might  say  touching  her  own  virtue.  He  was 
only  in  his  thirty-fourth  year  when  he  thus  perished,  universally  regretted. 
So  popular  was  he  during  his  bright,  brief,  troubled  career,  that  he 
scarcely  ever  quitted  England,  or  even  the  metropolis,  without  a  pas- 
toral or  other  song  in  his  praise,  which  was  sold  and  sung  in  the  streets: 
but  his  rivals,  enemies,  and  judges  were  insulted  and  hooted  whenever 
they  appeared  ;  even  ihe  Queen  herself  was  looked  on  coldly.  Several 
of  Essex's  principal  followers,  including  the  instigator,  Cufle,  were 
executed.  Southampton  was  saved  from  the  hlock  and  retained  a  close 
prisoner  in  the  Tower  during  the  Queen's  life,  which  was  fearfully  cm- 
biltiTcd  by  these  melancholy  transactions. 

I'hc  affecting  story  of  the  Riuij  scut  to  the  Queen  by  Essex  alter  his 


Qmccti  ElizahetJis  Ritig,  75 

condemnation,  is  one  of  the  memories  of  Essex  House.  When  Cathe- 
rine Countess  of  Nottingham  was  dying  (about  a  fortnight  before  Queen 
Elizabeth),  she  sent  to  Her  Majesty  to  desire  that  she  might  see  her, 
in  order  to  reveal  to  her  something,  without  the  discovery  of  which  she 
could  not  die  in  peace.  Upon  the  Queen's  coming.  Lady  Nottingham 
told  her  that,  while  the  Earl  of  Essex  lay  under  sentence  of  death,  he 
was  desirous  of  asking  Her  Majesty's  mercy  in  the  manner  prescribed 
by  herself  during  the  height  of  his  favour ;  the  Queen  having  given  him 
a  ring,  which  being  sent  to  her  as  a  token  of  his  distress  might  entitle 
him  to  her  protection.  But  the  Earl,  jealous  of  those  about  him,  and 
not  caring  to  trust  any  of  them  with  it,  as  he  was  looking  out  of  his 
window  one  morning,  saw  a  boy  with  whose  appearance  he  was 
pleased ;  and,  engaging  him  by  money  and  promises,  directed  him  i<^ 
carry  the  ring,  which  he  took  from  his  finger  and  threw  down,  to  Lady 
Scroope,  a  sister  of  the  Countess  of  Nottingham,  and  a  friend  of  his 
Lordship,  who  attended  upon  the  Queen  ;  and  to  beg  of  her  that  she 
would  present  it  to  Her  Majesty.  The  boy,  by  mistake,  carried  it  to 
Lady  Nottingham,  who  showed  it  to  her  husband,  the  admiral,  an 
enemy  of  Lord  Essex,  in  order  to  take  his  advice.  The  admiral  forbid 
her  to  carry  it,  or  return  any  answer  to  the  message ;  but  insisted  upon 
her  keeping  the  ring.  The  Countess  of  Nottingham,  having  made  this 
discovery,  begged  the  Queen's  forgiveness;  but  Her  Majesty  answered, 
"God  may  forgi've you,  but  I  ne^jer  can;"  and  left  the  room  with  great 
emotion.  Her  mind  was  so  struck  with  the  story  that  she  never  went 
to  bed,  nor  took  any  sustenance  from  that  instant ;  for  Camden  is  of 
opinion  that  her  chief  reason  for  suffering  the  Earl  to  be  executed  was 
mis  supposed  obstinacy  in  not  applying  to  her  for  mercy.  In  confirma- 
tion of  the  time  of  the  Countess'  death,  it  now  appears  from  the  parish 
register  of  Chelsea,  that  she  died  at  Arundel  House,  London,  February 
25th,  and  was  buried  the  28th,  1603.  Her  funeral  was  kept  at  Chelsea, 
March  21,  and  Queen  Elizabeth  died  three  days  afterwards  !  An  addi- 
tional confirmation  is  given  by  the  recorded  incidents  of  Elizabeth's 
conduct  during  her  last  illness.  For  ten  days  and  nights  together  prior 
to  her  decease,  she  refused  to  go  to  bed,  but  lay  upon  the  carpet,  with 
cushions  around  her,  buried  in  the  profoundest  melancholy. 

There  are  other  versions  of  this  anecdote  ;  the  principal  facts  are  the 
same  in  each.  The  whole  of  the  evidence  in  support  of  the  above  is 
in  Osborn's  Memoirs  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  published  fifty-five  years 
after  her  death.  Lord  Clarendon  mentioned  it  as  a  loose  report  which 
had  crept  into  discourse.  Again,  "  there  is  no  contemporaneous  account 
of  the  kind  in  either  of  the  accounts  of  the  Queen's  last  illness ;  and  that 


^6     Siege  of  Essex  House — Queen  ElizahetJis  Ring. 

Dy  the  Earl  of  .Monmouth,  an  eye-witness,  shows  that  so  far  from  any- 
thing having  occurred  to  disturb  the  Queen's  friendly  relations  with 
Lord  Nottingham,  he  was  actually  sent  for  as  the  only  person  whose 
influence  would  be  oufficiently  powerful  to  induce  her  to  obey  Jier 
physicians. 

"  Now,  whatever  might  be  the  supposed  indignation  of  Elizabeth 
against  her  dying  cousin.  Lady  Nottingham,  it  is  clear  that  as  the  real 
offend(;r  was  Lord  Nottingham,  he  would  naturally  have  more  than 
shared  in  her  displcasui'e ;  and  it  is  very  improbable  that  a  fortnight 
after  the  Qyeen  had  shaken  the  helpless  wife  on  her  deathbed,  the  hus- 
band, by  whose  authority  the  offence  was  committed,  should  have  con- 
tinued in  undiminished  favour.  The  existence  of  the  ring  would  do 
but  little  to  establish  the  truth  of  the  story,  even  if  but  one  had  been 
preserved  and  cherished  as  the  identical  ring  ;  but  as  there  are  two,  if 
not  three,  which  lay  claim  to  that  distinction,  they  invalidate  each 
other's  claims.  One  is  presened  at  Hawnes  in  Bedfordshire,  the  seat 
of  the  Rev.  Lord  John  Thynne;  another  is  the  property  of  C.  W. 
Warren,  ICsq.;  and  we  believe  the  third  is  deposited  for  safety  at  Messrs. 
Drummonds'  bank.  The  ring  at  Hawnes  is  said  to  have  descended  in 
unbroken  succession  from  Lady  Frances  Devereux  (afterwards  Duchess 
of  Somerset)  to  the  present  owner.  The  stone  in  this  ring  is  a  sardonyx, 
on  which  is  cut  in  relief  a  head  of  Elizabeth,  the  execution  of  which  is 
of  a  high  order.  That  the  ring  has  descended  from  Lady  Frances  Deve- 
reux affords  the  strongest  presumptive  evidence  that  it  was  not  the  ring. 
According  to  the  tradition,  it  had  passed  from  her  father  into  Lady 
Nottingham's  hands.  According  to  Lady  Elizabeth  Spelman,  Lord 
Nottingham  insisted  upon  her  keeping  it.  In  \vx  interview  with  the 
Queen,  the  Countess  might  be  supposed  to  iiave  presented  to  her  the 
token  she  had  so  fatally  withheld ;  or  it  might  have  remained  in  her 
family,  or  hav2  been  destroyed ;  but  the  most  improbable  circumstance 
would  have  been  its  restoration  to  the  widow  or  daughter  cf  the  much 
injured  Essex  by  the  offending  Earl  of  Nottingham.  The  Duchess  ot 
Somerset  left  *  a  long,  curious,  and  minute  will,  and  in  it  there  is  no 
mention  of  any  such  ring.'  If  tliere  is  good  evidence  for  believing  that 
the  curious  ring  at  Hawnes  was  ever  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl  of 
Essex,  one  miglit  be  tempted  to  suppose  that  it  was  the  likeness  of  the 
Queen,  to  which  he  alludes  in  his  letters  as  iiis  'fair  angel,'  written  from 
Portland  road,  and  at  the  time  of  his  disgrace,  after  the  proceedings  in 
the  Star  Chamber,  and  when  still  under  restraint  at  Essex  House.  Had 
Essrx  at  this  time  possessed  any  ring,  a  token  by  presenting  which  he 
would  have  been  entitled  to  restoialion  to  favour,  it  seems  most  im- 


The  Strange  History  of  Lady  Hat  ton.  "Jf 

probable  that  he  should  have  kept  it  back,  and  yet  regarded  this  like- 
ness of  the  Queen,  whose  gracious  eyes  encouraged  him  to  be  a  petitioner 
for  himself.  The  whole  tone  of  the  letter  is  in  fact  almost  conclusive 
against  the  possibility  of  his  having  in  his  possession  any  gift  of  hers 
endowed  with  such  rights  as  that  of  the  ring  which  the  Countess  of 
Nottingham  is  supposed  to  have  withheld."  We  have  abridged  this 
investigation  cf  the  whole  story  from  a  paper  in  the  Edinburgh  Revietu, 

No.  300. 


» 


The  Strange  History  of  Lady  Hatton. 

This  "strange  lady,"  the  widow  of  Sir  Christopher  Hatton's  nephew, 
who  had  inherited  his  estates  and  title,  resided  in  Ely  Place,  or  rather 
in  that  portion  of  't  called  Hatton  House,  upon  Holbom  Hill.  At  the 
decease  of  her  first  husband.  Sir  William  Newport,  who,  on  the  death  of 
his  uncle,  took  the  name  of  Hatton,  she  was  young,  very  beautiful,  of 
eccentric  manner,  and  a  most  vixenish  temper.  She  was  rich  withal, 
and  wooers  were  numerous.  Among  them  came  two  remarkable  men, 
already  rivals  in  their  profession,  and  now  to  be  rivals  in  a  tenderer 
pursuit:  these  were  Coke  and  Bacon.  And  some  noticeable  scenes 
must,  no  doubt,  have  taken  place  in  Hatton  House  during  the  progress 
of  this  remarkable  courtship.  How  Lady  Hatton's  two  distinguished 
lovers  hated  each  other  we  know,  before  this  new  fuel  was  added  to 
the  flame.  Both  were  powerfully  supported.  Coke  had  already  been 
appointed  Attorney-General  by  the  Qiieen,  in  spite  of  the  most  powerful 
efforts  of  the  ill-fated  Earl  of  Essex  to  obtain  the  appointment  for 
Bacon,  so  that  he  was  already  on  the  high  road  to  fortune;  on  the 
other  hand.  Bacon's  ever-faithful  friend — alas !  that  it  should  have  to 
be  remembered  how  ungratefully  he  was  rewarded! — Essex  pleaded 
personally  his  cause  with  the  beautiful  widow  and  with  her  mother. 

Sir  Edward  Coke,  or  Cook,  as  now  pronounced,  was  the  "  oracle 
of  law,"  but,  like  too  many  great  lawyers,  he  was  so  completely  one, 
as  to  have  been  nothing  else.  Coke,  already  enriched  by  his  first 
marriage,  combined  power  with  added  wealth,  in  his  union  with  the 
relict  of  Sir  William  Hatton,  the  sister  of  Thomas  Lord  Burghley.  It 
was  the  greater  titles  that  most  probably  at  last  decided  Lady  Hatton 
to  accept  Coke ;  and,  like  many  other  clever  people,  she  lived  no  doubt 
to  repent  of  a  choice  formed  on  such  considerations,  when  she  found  she 
had  rejected  a  Chancellor ! 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  connected  with  the  character  of  Coke,  that 
this  great  lawyer  suffered  his  second  marriage  to  take  place  in  an  illegal 


yS  The  Strange  History  of  Lady  Haiton. 

manner,  and  condescended  to  plead  ignorance  of  the  laws!  He  had 
been  married  in  a  private  house,  without  banns  or  licence,  at  a  moment 
when  the  Archbishop  was  vigilantly  prosecuting  informal  and  irregular 
marriages. 

In  1616,  Coke,  by  his  unbending  judicial  integrity,  lost  the  favour 
of  James,  and  with  it  the  Chief  Justiceship,  which  he  then  held :  his 
mode  of  obtaining  a  restoration  of  the  first,  and  an  equivalent  for  the 
second,  stands  in  strange  contrast.  This  was  the  marriage  of  his 
daughter  to  Sir  John  Villiers,  afterwards  Viscount  Purbeck,  brother  to 
the  haughty  favourite,  then  supreme  at  Court.  It  is  to  Lady  Hatton's 
credit  that  she  determinedly  refused,  as  long  as  she  could  with  any 
prospect  of  utility,  to  consent  to  this  bargain  and  sale  of  her  child,  then 
only  in  her  seventeenth  year,  and  who  had  a  great  aversion  to  the 
match.  There  were,  however,  other  personages  than  his  Majesty, 
and  his  favourite,  more  deeply  concerned  in  the  business,  and  who 
had  not  hitherto  been  once  consulted — the  mother  and  the  daughter ! 
Coke,  who,  in  everyday  concerns,  issued  his  commands  as  he  would 
his  law-writs,  and  at  times,  boldly  asserted  the  rights  of  the  subject, 
had  no  other  paternal  notion  of  the  duties  of  a  wife  and  child  than 
their  obedience ! 

At  first,  the  mother  and  daughter  ran  away,  and  secreted  themselves 
at  Oatlands,  where  Coke,  having  discovered  their  retreat,  cameai-med  with 
a  warrant,  and  broke  open  door  after  door  until  he  found  the  fugitives. 
The  Privy  Council  were  now  inundated  with  appeals  and  counter- 
appeals,  and  disturbed  with  brawls  when  the  paities  were  before  them. 
Mr.  Chamberlain,  writing  to  Carleton  (May  24,  1616),  says,  "The 
Lord  Coke  and  his  lady  had  great  wai-s  at  the  Council-table.  The 
first  time  she  came  accompanied  with  the  Lord  Hurghley  and  his  lady, 
the  Lord  Danvers,  the  Lord  Denny,  Sir  Thomas  Howard  and  his  lady, 
with  I  know  not  how  many  more,  and  declaimed  so  bitterly  against 
him,  and  so  carried  herself,  that  divers  said  Burbage  (the  player)  could 
not  have  acted  better." 

Lady  Hatton,  haughty  to  insolence,  had  been  often  forbidden  both 
the  courts  of  their  Majesties,  where  Lady  Compton,  the  mother  of 
Buckingham,  was  the  object  of  iier  ladyship's  persevering  contempt. 
She  retained  her  personal  influence  by  the  numerous  estates  which  she 
enjoyed  in  right  of  her  former  husband.  When  Coke  fell  into  disgrace, 
his  lady  abandoned  him,  and  to  avoid  her  imsband,  frequently  moved 
her  residence  in  (own  and  country.  We  trace  her  with  malicious 
activity  disfurnishing  his  house  in  Holborn,  and  at  Stoke  Pogeis,  in 
Buckinghamshire;  seizing  on  all  the  plate  and  moveables,  and  in  fact, 


The  Strange  History  of  Lady  Hation.  79 

leaving  the  fallen  statesman,  and  the  late  Lord  Chief  Justice,  cinpty 
houses  and  no  comforter ! 

It  is  extraordinary  that  Coke,  able  to  defend  any  cause,  bore  himself 
60  simply.  It  is  supposed  that  he  had  laid  his  domestic  concerns  too 
open  to  animadversion  in  the  neglect  of  his  daughter  ;  or  that  he  was 
aware  that  he  was  standing  before  no  friendly  bar,  at  that  moment  being 
out  of  favour;  whatever  was  the  cause,  our  noble  virago  obtained  a 
signal  triumph,  and  the  "  oracle  of  law,"  with  all  his  gravity,  stood 
before  the  council-table  henpecked.  In  June,  1616,  Sir  Edward  appears 
to  have  yielded  at  discretion  to  his  lady ;  for  in  an  unpublished  letter 
we  find  that  "  his  curst  heart  hath  been  forced  to  yield  to  more  than  he 
ever  meant ;  but  upon  this  agreement  he  flatters  himself  that  she  will 
prove  a  very  good  wife." 

In  the  following  year,  161 7,  these  domestic  affairs  totally  changed. 
The  political  maniage  of  his  daughter  with  Villiers  being  now  resolved 
on,  the  business  was  to  clip  the  wings  of  so  fierce  a  bird  as  Coke  had 
found  in  Lady  Hatton,  which  led  to  an  extraordinary  contest.  The 
mother  and  daughter  hated  the  upstart  Villiers,  and  Sir  John,  indeed, 
promised  to  be  but  a  sickly  bridegroom.  They  had  contrived  to  make 
up  a  written  contract  of  marriage  with  Lord  Oxford,  which  they  opi>osed 
against  the  proposal,  or  rather  the  order,  of  Coke. 

The  violence  to  which  the  towering  spirits  of  the  conflicting  parties 
proceeded  is  a  piece  of  secret  history,  of  which  accident  has  preserved 
an  able  memorial.  Coke,  armed  with  law,  and  what  was  equally  potent, 
with  the  King's  favour,  entered  by  force  the  barricaded  houses  of  his 
lady,  took  possession  of  his  daughter,  on  whom  he  appears  never  to  have 
cast  a  thought  till  she  became  an  instrument  for  his  political  purposes, 
confined  her  from  her  mother,  and  at  length  got  the  haughty  mother 
imprisoned,  and  brought  her  to  account  for  all  her  past  misdoings. 
Quick  was  the  change  of  scene,  and  the  contrast  was  wonderful.  Coke, 
who  in  the  preceding  year,  to  the  world's  surprise,  proved  so  simple  an 
advocate  of  his  own  cause  in  the  presence  of  his  wife,  now,  to  employ 
his  own  words,  "  got  upon  his  wings  again,"  and  went  on,  as  Lady 
Hatton,  when  safely  lodged  in  prison,  describes,  with  "  his  high-handed 
tyrannical  courses,"  till  the  furious  lawyer  occasioned  a  fit  of  sickness  to 
the  proud,  crestfallen  lady.  "  Law  !  law  !  law  !"  thundered  from  the 
lips  of  its  '•oracle!"  and  Bacon,  in  his  apologetical  letter  to  the  King 
for  having  opposed  his  "  riot  or  violence,"  says,  "  I  disliked  it  the  moi-e, 
because  he  justified  it  to  be  Law,  which  was  his  old  song." 

The  memorial  alluded  to  appears  to  have  been  confidentially  com- 
posed by  the  legal  fnend  of  I  ady  Hatton,  to  furnish  her  ladyship  with 


So  Tlic  Strange  History  of  Lady  Ha  ft  on. 

answers  when  brought  before  the  council-table.  It  opens  several  do- 
mestic scenes  in  the  house  of  that  great  Lord  Chief  Justice ;  the  forcible 
simplicity  of  the  style  in  domestic  details  shows  that  our  language  has 
not  advanced  in  expression  since  the  age  of  James  I.  The  memorial 
opens  as  follows: 

"To  Lady  Hattox.  ,.      t  i      ,= 

rojuly,  1617. 
"  Madam, — Seeing  these  people  speak  no  language  but  thunder  and 
lightning,  accounting  this  their  cheapest  and  best  way  to  work  upon 
you,  I  would  with  patience  prepare  myself  to  their  extremities,  and 
study  to  defend  the  breaches  by  which  to  their  advantage  they  suppose 
to  come  in  upon  me,  and  henceforth  quit  the  ways  of  pacification  and 
composition  heretofore,  and  unseasonably  endeavoured,  which,  in  my 
opinion,  lie  most  open  to  trouble,  scandal,  and  danger ;  wherefore  I  will 
briefly  set  down  their  objections,  and  send  answers  to  them  as  I  con- 
ceive proper."     [The  details  are  too  lengthy  for  us  to  quote.] 

Among  other  matters,  it  appears  that  Coke  accused  his  lady  of  having 
"embezzled  all  his  gilt  and  silver  plate  and  vessell  (he  having  little  in 
any  house  of  mine  but  that  his  marriage  with  me  brought  him),  and 
instead  thereof  foisted  in  alkumy  of  the  same  sorte,  fashion,  and  use, 
with  the  illusion  to  have  cheated  him  of  the  other."  Coke  insists  on  the 
inventory  by  the  schedule !  Her  ladysiiip  says :  **  I  made  such  plate  for 
matter  and  form  for  my  own  use  at  Purbeck,  that  ser\ing  well  enough 
m  the  country ;  and  I  was  loth  to  trust  such  a  substance  in  a  place  so 
remote,  and  in  the  guard  of  few ;  but  for  the  plate  and  vessell  he  saith 
it  is  wanting,  they  are  every  ounce  within  one  of  my  three  houses."  She 
complains  that  Sir  Edward  Coke  and  his  son  Clement  had  threatened 
her  servants  so  grievously,  that  the  poor  men  ran  away  to  hide  them- 
selves  from  his  fury,  and  dare  not  appear  abroad. 

"  Sir  Edward  broke  into  Hatton  House,  secured  my  coach  and  coach- 
horses,  nay,  my  apparel,  which  he  detains;  thrusts  all  my  servants  out 
of  doors  without  wages ;  sent  down  his  men  to  Corfe  to  inventory, 
seize,  ship,  and  carry  away  all  the  goods,  which  being  refused  him  by 
the  castle-keeper,  he  threats  to  bring  your  lordship's  warrant  for  the 
performance  thereof.  But  your  lordship  established  that  he  sliould 
have  the  use  of  the  goods  only  during  his  life,  in  such  houses  as  the  same 
ap|X'rtained,  without  meaning,  1  hope,  of  depriving  me  of  such  use, 
being  goods  I  brought  at  my  marriage,  or  bought  with  the  money  I 
spared  ft"om  my  allowances.  Stop,  then,  his  high  tyrannical  courses  ; 
for  I  have  suffered  l)cyond  the  mcasiire  of  any  wifc,  mother,  nay  of 


The  Strange  History  of  Lady  Hatton.  Si 

my  ordinary  woman  in  this  kingdom,  withoiit  respect  to  my  father,  my 
birth,  my  fortunes,  with  which  I  have  so  highly  raised  him." 

However,  she  at  last  consented  to  the  match,  which  was  the  principal 
cause  of  these  unseemly  proceedings,  although  she  continued  to  live  at 
Hatton  House,  separated  from  her  husband ;  and  this  unpleasant  busi- 
ness settled,  she  returned,  with  as  great  zest  as  ever,  to  the  amusements 
she  chiefly  delighted  in.  Some  years  before,  she  had  played  a  conspicu- 
ous part  in  the  performance  of  Ben  Jonson's  Masque  of  Beauty,  when 
fifteen  of  the  choicest  Court  Beauties  had  been  selected  as  actors 
for  the  solace  of  Royalty;  and  now  again,  in  162 1,  we  find  her  at  the 
same  vocation,  in  the  representation  of  the  Metamorphosed  Gipsies,  at 
Burley-on-the-Hill,  James  again  being  the  chief  spectator.  In  this 
piece,  the  fifth  gipsy  is  made  thus  to  address  her : 

"  Mistress  of  a  fairer  table 
Hath  no  history,  no  fable  ; 
Others'  fortunes  may  be  shown — 
You  are  builder  of  your  own  ; 
And  whatever  Heaven  hath  given  you. 
You  preserve  the  state  still  in  you. 
That  which  time  would  have  depart. 
Youth  without  the  help  of  art, 
You  do  keep  still,  and  the  glory 
Of  your  sex  is  but  your  story." 

As  a  specimen  of  the  vixenish  temper  of  Lady  Hatton,  we  may  relate 
that  she  had,  for  a  considerable  period,  Gondomar,  the  noted  Spanish 
Ambassador,  for  her  next-door  neighbour — he  occupying,  we  presume, 
the  palatial  portion  of  the  building.  Howell,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  James 
Crofts,  March  24,  1622,  says:  "  Gondomar  has  ingratiated  himself  with 
divers  persons  of  quality,  ladies  especially ;  yet  he  could  do  no  good 
upon  the  Lady  Hatton,  whom  he  desired  lately,  that  in  regard  he  was 
her  next-door  neighbour  (at  Ely  House),  he  might  have  the  benefit  of 
the  back-gate  to  go  abroad  into  the  fields,  but  she  put  him  off  with  a 
compliment;  whereupon,  in  a  private  audience  lately  with  the  King, 
among  other  passages  of  merriment  he  told  him,  that  my  Lady  Hatton 
was  a  strange  lady,  for  she  would  not  suffer  her  husband,  Sir  Edward 
Coke,  to  come  in  at  her  fore-door,  nor  him  to  go  out  at  her  back-door, 
and  so  related  the  v\hole  business."  The  last  "Mystery"  represented 
in  England  was  that  of  Christ's  Passion,  in  the  reign  of  James  L,  which 
Prynne  tells  us,  was  "  peiformed  at  Elie  House,  in  Holborne,  when 
Gundomar  lay  there,  on  Good  Friday,  at  night,  at  which  there  vere 
thousands  present." 

\^^hat  availed  the  vexation  of  this  sick,  mortified,  and  proud  woman, 
or  the  more  tender  feelings  of  the  daughter,  in  this  forced  mairiage  to 


82  The  Strange  History  of  Lady  Hattofi. 

satisfy  the  political  ambition  of  the  father  ?  When  Bacon  wrote  to  thf. 
King  respecting  the  strange  behaviour  of  Coke,  the  King  vindicated  it, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  his  daughter,  blaming  Bacon  for  some  ex- 
pressions he  had  used ;  and  Bacon,  with  the  servility  of  the  courtier, 
when  he  found  the  wind  in  his  teeth,  tacked  round,  and  promised 
Buckingham  to  promote  the  match  he  had  abhorred.  Villiers  was 
married  to  the  daughter  of  Coke,  at  Hampton  Court,  on  Michaelmas- 
day,  1617  ;  Coke  was  readmitted  to  the  council-table.  Lady  Hatton 
was  then  reconciled  to  Lady  Compton,  and  the  Queen  gave  a  grand 
entertainment  on  the  occasion,  to  which,  however,  "  the  good  man  of 
the  house  was  neither  invited  nor  spoken  of.  He  dined  that  day  at  the 
Temple;  she  is  still  bent  to  pull  down  her  husband." 

The  moral  of  the  close  remains  to  be  told.  Lady  Villiers  looked  on 
her  husband  as  the  hateful  object  of  a  forced  union,  and  nearly  drove 
him  mad ;  while  she,  it  is  believed,  at  length  obtained  a  divorce. 

Thus,  a  marriage  promoted  by  ambition,  and  prosecuted  by  violent 
means,  closed  with  that  utter  misery  to  the  parties  by  which  it  had 
been  commenced  ;  and  served  to  show  that  when  a  lawyer,  like  Coke, 
holds  his  "  high-handed  tyrannical  courses,"  the  law  of  Nature,  as  well 
as  the  law  of  which  he  is  "  the  oracle,"  will  be  alike  violated  under  his 
roof.  Wife  and  daughter  were  plaintiffs  or  defendants,  on  whom  this 
Lord  Chief  Justice  closed  his  ear;  he  had  blocked  up  the  avenues  to 
his  heart  with  "  Law  J  law  !  law  !"  his  old  song. 

No  reconciliation  took  place  between  the  parties.  In  June,  1634,  we 
find  in  the  Earl  of  Strafford's  Letter,  that  on  a  strong  report  of  his  death, 
Lady  Coke,  accompanied  by  her  brother.  Lord  Wimbledon,  posted 
down  to  Stoke  Pogeis,  to  take  possession  of  his  mansion  ;  but  beyond 
Colnbrook  fhey  met  with  one  of  his  physicians  coming  from  him,  who 
informed  them  of  Sir  Edward's  amendment,  which  made  them  return. 
On  the  following  September  the  venerable  sage  was  no  more.  Beyond 
his  eightieth  year,  in  the  last  Parliament  of  Charles  I.,  the  extraordinary 
vigour  of  his  intellect  flamed  clear  under  the  snows  of  age. 

Lady  Hatton  was  still  flourishing  at  the  period  of  the  sitting  of  the 
Long  Parliament,  when  Hatton  House  was  decided  to  be  her  own 
Her  daughter's  marriage  turned  out  as  might  have  been  expected. 
Viscount  Purbeck  went  abroad  only  three  years  after,  and  she  led  a 
life  of  profligacy  that  had  once  naiTowly  brought  her  to  the  chapel  of 
the  Savoy,  to  do  penance  in  a  white  siieet. 

This  •'  strange  lady,"  as  Howell  calls  her,  "dyed  in  Lomlon  on  the 
3rd  of  January,  1646,31  her  house  in  I  lolbounii.',"  having  ellectuallv 
repelled  the  entrance  of  her  husband,  and  all  the  exetlions  of  succestiiv* 


ITolyivcll  Priory,  SJiorcditch.  ^"^ 

Bishops  of  Ely  to  recover  Ely  House,  in  Holbom,  to  the  see  of  Ely ; 
and  the  Bishops  removed  to  a  house  built  for  them  in  Dovcr-stnvt, 
Piccadilly.  Upon  the  site  was  built  Ely-place, — a  cul-de-sac — part  ol 
wiiich  has  been  taken  down  in  the  works  for  the  Holbom  Viaduct,* 


HalHwell,  or  Holywell  Priory,  Shoreditch. 

At  a  period  long  before  the  parish  of  Shoreditch  contained  scarcely 
an  habitation,  and  while  it  consisted  of  fields  chiefly  devoted  to  spoils 
and  recreations,  there  stood  upon  the  present  site  of  New  Inn-yard 
and  Holywell-lane  a  Priory  dedicated  to  St.  John  the  Baptist.  It  was 
founded  about  i  loo,  and  by  aid  of  several  benefactors  the  extent  of  its 
buildings  and  the  area  of  its  grounds  were  considerably  enlarged.  It 
became,  in  fact,  a  resort  of  prelates  and  great  people  of  the  land,  and  even 
the  sovereigns  of  England  were  proud  to  be  reckoned  among  its  patrons. 
It  continued  to  flourish  until  it  was  suppressed  in  1539,  and  was  sur- 
rendered to  the  Crown.  Its  ecclesiastical  edifices  were  then  pulled 
down,  and  houses  for  the  nobles  and  gentry  were  built  upon  its  site.  It 
was  bounded  on  the  one  side  by  the  present  High-street,  Shoreditch, 
but  the  extent  of  it  in  other  directions  it  is  not  possible  to  trace.  There 
exists  upon  the  spot  a  very  old  wall,  nearly  100  feet  long,  which  is  con- 
sidered to  be  the  remains  of  the  Priory  Church. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  lived  Sir  Thomas  Lovel,  a  nobleman  of 
wealth  and  renown,  a  Knight  of  the  Garter,  and  a  great  benefactor  to 
the  City  of  London.  He  was  knighted  at  the  battle  of  Stoke,  made 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  for  life,  one  of  the  executors  of  Henry  Vll.'e 
will.  Constable  of  the  Tower,  and  afterwards  Steward  and  Marshal  to 
the  House  of  Henry  VIII.  He  was  a  great  benefactor  to  the  Priory  of 
HalHwell,  and  built  there  "  a  beautiful  chapel,  wherein  his  body  was 
aiterred."  This  he  endowed  with  fair  lands,  and  he  also  built  him- 
eclf  a  large  and  handsome  mansion.  He  married  the  daughter  of 
Thomas  Lord  Ros  of  Hamlake,  and  in  1508,  succeeded  to  the  Manor 
of  Worcester,  in  the  parish  of  Enfield.  In  the  mansion  of  that  manor 
he  was  honoured  with  a  visit  from  Margaret,  Queen  Dowager  of  Scot- 
land. He  died  there  in  1524,  but  was  buried  in  the  chapel  which  he 
himself  had  tounded  within  the  Priory  of  Halliwell,  and  it  may  be 
presumed  that  his  lady  was  buried  at  Halliwell  with  him.  A  monu- 
ment representing  a  knight  in  a  recumbent  position  was  erected  soon 


•  Lady  Hatton  left  a  charitable  benefaction  to  the  poor  of  the  parish  of 
St.  Andrew,  Holbom. 

O    2 


84  Holywell  Priory,  Shoreditch. 

after  his  death,  and  on  the  death  of  his  lady  a  figure  in  marble  was  placed 
at  its  side.  In  the  windows  of  the  chapel,  which  were  of  the  richest 
stained  glass,  the  following  words,  indicative  of  the  high  respect  in 
which  the  memory  of  Sir  Thomas  was  held,  were  afterwards  inscribed : 

"  Al  the  nunnes  in  Holywel 
Pray  for  the  soul  of  Sir  Thomas  Lovel." 

They  are  also  stated  to  be  as  follows,  inscribed  on  a  wall  of  the  Priory ; 

"  Al  the  nuns  of  Haliwell, 

Pray  ye  both  day  and  night 
For  the  soul  of  Sir  Thomas  Lovel, 
Whom  Harry  the  Seventh  made  knight." 

In  the  year  1513,  Lord  Ros,  pursuant  to  his  will,  was  buried  nigh 
the  altar  in  the  chapel  of  this  priory ;  but  other  historians  consider  it 
probable  that  at  the  death  of  his  lady,  the  body  was  removed  to  Wind- 
sor, as  both  figures  lie  upon  one  tomb  in  St.  George's  Chapel ;  and 
upon  the  tomb  is  an  inscription  recording  the  fiict  that  this  nobleman, 
who  died  1513,  and  his  lady,  Anne,  who  died  1526,  were  there  buried. 
There  are  no  records  of  any  other  persons  of  note  whatever  having  been 
buried  within  this  chapel,  or  within  the  precincts  of  the  priory. 

It  is  not,  however,  improbable  that  within  the  grounds  of  the  priory 
was  a  burial-ground,  in  which  the  deceased  inmates,  and  possibly  other 
persons  in  favour  with,  or  benefactors  to,  the  establishment  were  buried, 
as  many  loose  bones  have  been  turned  up.  Sir  Thomas  and  his  lady 
died  only  a  few  years  before  the  suppression  of  the  convent  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VIII.,  and  were  therefore  probably  the  last  persons  of  note  who 
were  interred  within  it ;  and  in  the  course  of  excavations  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  New  Inn-yard,  have  been  found  two  leaden  cofilns  believed  to  have 
contained  the  remains  of  Sir  Thomas  Lovel  and  his  lady.  The  shape  of 
these  coffins  is  peculiar,  distinguished  by  having  a  head  and  shoulders, 
— a  form  in  stone  not  uncommon  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  V.  and  VI, 
From  the  material  of  these  coffins,  it  may  be  reasonably  assumed  that 
the  persons  interred  within  them  were  persons  of  station  or  quality. 
They  were  found  resting  upon  the  clay,  enclosed  in  a  grave  formed  of 
chalk,  wiiicli  fell  in  as  the  workmen  disti:rt>cd  It.  Both  of  the  leaden 
shells,  when  discovered,  were  somewhat  decayed  by  time;  especially 
round  the  joints  securing  the  lids,  whicli  were  easily  taken  off  in 
several  pieces.  On  removing  the  coffins  from  the  ground,  two  skele- 
t»)n8  in  perfect  form  were  discovered,  the  heads  occupying  the  upper 
circular  cavity.  There  was  neither  sign  of  any  flesh  nor  clothing,  nor 
any  relics  whatever,  which  it  might  be  supposed  would  be  placed 
within  the  coffins  of  people  of   note,  and  who  were  buried  in  the 


Stories  of  Old  Somerset  House,  85 

Catholic  faith.  The  only  other  remnants  of  decay,  besides  the  bones, 
visible,  were — a  sort  of  brownish  yellow  dust  which  lay  beneath  the 
bones,  and  a  sort  of  chalky  deposit  at  the  bottom  of  the  shells.  This 
deposit  is  common,  and  has  frequently  been  found  to  consist  of  lime  put 
into  the  coffin,  most  probably  to  hasten  the  destruction  of  the  body. 

No  inscription  is  discoverable  on  the  leaden  shells  now  found.  It" 
llvere  ever  were  any,  the  corrosion  of  the  metal  has  quite  obliterated  it ; 
but  it  is  just  possible  that,  after  the  demolition  of  the  Priory,  the  tomb 
may  have  been  opened,  and  the  outer  shells,  with  their  ornaments, 
rcmovitl ;  and  if  so,  the  leaden  shells  themselves  may  have  been  opened, 
and  any  valuables  that  may  have  been  inclosed  also  removed,  and  that  at 
a  period  when  decay  had  not  sufficiently  set  in  to  allow  the  disturbance 
of  the  bones. 

The  following  are  additional  records  of  the  interment  here:  Sir 
Thomas  Lovel  was  buried  there  June  8,  1525,  "in  a  tombe  of  whyte 
marbell,  on  the  southe  syde  of  the  quyre  of  the  saide  churche."  At  his 
funeral  there  were  present  the  IMshop  of  London,  Lord  St.  John,  Sir 
Richard  Wyngfield,  and  many  others,  nobles  and  gentlemen.  The  Abbot 
ofWaltham,  the  Prior  of  St.  INLiry  Spital,  four  orders  of  friars,  the 
Mayor  and  all  the  aldermen  of  London,  gentlemen  of  the  Inns  of  Coui't, 
the  Lord  Steward,  and  all  the  clerks  of  London  attended.  Part  of  the 
Chapel  remains  under  the  floor  of  the  Old  King  John  public-house, 
and  the  stone  doorway  into  the  porter's  lodge  of  the  Priory  still  exists. 


Stories  of  Old  Somerset  House. 

This  celebrated  palace,  situated  on  the  south  side  of  the  Strand,  with 
gardens  and  water-gate  reaching  to  the  Thames,  was  commenced  build- 
ing about  i-,47,  by  the  Protector  Somerset,  maternal  uncle  of 
Edward  VI.  To  obtiin  space  and  building  materials,  he  demolished 
Strand  or  Chester's  Inn,  and  the  episcopal  houses  of  Lichfield,  Coventry, 
Worcester,  and  Llandaft",  besides  the  church  and  tower  of  St.  John  of 
Jerusiilem :  for  the  stone,  also,  he  pulled  down  the  great  north  cloister 
of  St.  Paul's ;  St.  Mary's  church  was  also  taken  down,  and  the  site 
became  part  of  the  garden.  Stow  describes  it,  in  1 603,  as  "  a  large  and 
beautiful  house,  but  yet  unfinished."  The  Protector  did  not  inhabit 
the  palace ;  for  he  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower  in  1549,  ana  beheaded 
in  1552.  Somerset-place  then  devolved  to  the  Crown,  and  was  assigned 
by  Edward  VI.  to  his  sister  the  Princess  Elizabeth.  Lord  Burghley 
notcp : — "  Feb,  1.^66-7,  Cornelius  de  la  Noye,  an  alchymist,  wrought  in 


86  Stories  of  Old  Somerset  House. 

Somerset  House,  and  abused  many  in  promising  to  convert  any  metall 
into  gold." 

In  1570,  Queen  Elizabeth  went  to  open  the  Royal  Exchange,  "from 
her  house  at  tlie  Strand,  called  Somerset  House."  The  Queen  lent  the 
mansion  to  her  kinsman,  Lord  Hunsdon,  whose  guest  she  occasionally 
became.  At  her  death,  the  palace  was  settled  as  a  jointure-house 
of  the  queen-consort ;  and  passed  to  Anne  of  Denmark,  queen  of 
James  I.,  by  whose  command  it  was  called  Denmark  House.  Inigo 
Jones  erected  new  buildings  and  enlargements.  Here  the  remains  of 
Anne  and  James  I.  lay  in  state.  For  Henrietta  Maria,  queen  of  Charles  I., 
Inigo  Jones  built  a  chapel,  with  a  rustic  arcade  and  Corinthian  columns, 
facing  the  Thames  ;  and  here  the  Queen  established  a  convent  of 
Capuchin  friars.  In  the  passage  leading  from  east  to  west,  under  the 
quadrangle  of  the  present  Somerset  House,  are  five  tombstones  of  the 
Queen's  attendants. 

Inigo  Jones  died  here  in  1652.  During  the  Protectorate,  the  altar 
and  chapel  were  ordered  to  be  burnt ;  and  in  1659  the  palace  was  about 
to  be  sold  for  10,000/.;  but  after  the  Restoration,  the  Queen-mother 
Henrietta,  returned  to  Somerset  House,  which  she  repaired:  hence  she 
exclaims,  in  Cowley's  courtly  verse: — 

"  Before  my  gate  a  street's  broad  clianncl  goes, 
Which  still  with  waves  of  crowding  people  flows; 
And  every  day  there  passes  by  my  side, 
Up  to  its  western  reach,  the  London  tide. 
The  spring-tides  of  the  term.     My  front  looks  down 
On  all  the  pride  and  business  of  the  town.' 

Waller's  adulatory  incense  rises  still  higher : — 

*•  Rut  what  new  mine  this  work  supplies? 
Can  such  a  pile  from  ruin  rise? 
This  like  the  first  creation  shows, 
As  if  at  your  command  it  rose." 

Pepys  gossips  of  "  the  Qiiccn-mother's  court  at  Somerset  House, 
above  our  own  Queen's ;  the  mass  in  the  chapel ;  the  garden  ;  and  the 
new  buildings,  mighty  magnificent  and  costly,"  "  stately  and  nobly 
famished ;"  and  "  the  great  stone  stairs  in  the  garden,  with  the  brave 
echo."  The  Queen-mother  died  abroad  in  1669.  In  1669-70,  the 
remains  of  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  "lay  for  many  weeks  in  royal 
state"  at  Somerset  House ;  and  thence  he  was  buried  with  every  honour 
short  of  regality.  Tiiither  the  remains  of  Oliver  Cromwell  were  re- 
moved from  "Whitehall,  in  1658,  and  were  laid  in  state  in  the  great  hall 
of  Sinnci  set  House,  "  and  represented  in  efiigie,  standing  on  a  bed  of 
crimson  velvet."     He  was  buried  from  hence  with  great  pomp  and 


Sir  Edmund  Berry  Godfrey.  87 

pageantry,  which  provoked  the  people  to  throw  dirt,  in  the  night,  on  his 
escutcheon  that  was  placed  over  the  great  gate  of  Somerset  House:  his 
pompous  funeral  cost  28,000/.  On  the  death  of  Charles  II.  in  1685, 
the  palace  became  the  sole  residence  of  the  Queen  Dowager,  Catherine 
of  Braganza;  and  in  1678,  three  of  her  household  were  charged  with 
the  murder  of  Sir  Edmund  Berry  Godfrey,  by  decoying  him  into  Somerset 
House,  and  there  strangling  him. 

Strype  describes  the  palace  about  1 720  :  its  front  with  stone  pillars, 
its  spacious  square  court,  great  hall  or  guard-room,  large  staircase,  and 
rooms  of  state,  larger  courts,  and  "  most  pleasant  garden  ;"  the  water- 
gate,  with  figures  of  Thames  and  Isis ;  and  the  water-garden,  with 
fountain  and  statues.  Early  in  the  last  century,  court  masquerades  were 
given  here.  Addison,  in  the  Freeholder,  mentions  one  in  1716;  and  in 
1763,  a  splendid  fete  was  given  here  by  Government  to  the  Venetian 
Ambassadors.  In  1771,  the  Royal  Academy  had  apartments  in  the 
palace,  granted  them  by  George  III.  In  IT75,  Parliament  settled  upon 
Queen  Charlotte  Buckingham  House,  in  which  she  then  resided,  in  lieu  of 
Old  Somerset  House,  which  was  given  up  to  be  demolished,  for  the  erec- 
tion upon  the  site  of  certain  public  offices,  the  present  Somerset  House ; 
the  produce  of  the  sale  of  Ely  House  being  applied  towards  the  ex- 
penses. The  chapel,  which  had  been  opened  for  the  Protestant  service 
by  order  of  Queen  Anne,  in  1711,  was  not  closed  until  1777.  The 
venerable  court-way  from  the  Strand,  and  the  dark  and  winding  steps 
which  led  down  to  the  garden  beneath  the  shade  of  ancient  and  lofty 
trees,  were  the  last  lingering  features  of  Somerset  Place,  and  were  cha- 
racteristic of  the  gloomy  lives  and  fortunes  of  its  royal  and  noble  inmates. 


Sir  Edmund  Berry  Godfrey,  his  Mysterious  Death. 

This  tragical  event  originated  in  Titus  Gates'  Popish  Plot  in  1678 ;  <rf 
this  Gates  drew  up  a  narrative,  to  the  truth  of  which  he  solemnly 
deposed  before  Sir  Edmund  Bciry  Godfrey,  who  was  an  eminent  Justice 
of  the  Peace.  This  seemed  to  be  done  in  distrust  of  the  Privy  Council, 
as  if  they  might  stifle  his  evidence ;  which  to  prevent  he  put  into  safe 
hands.  Upon  that  Godfrey  was  chid  for  his  presuming  to  meddle  in 
so  tender  a  matter,  and,  as  appeared  from  subsequent  events,  a  plan  was 
immediately  laid  to  murder  him ;  and  this,  within  a  few  weeks,  was 
but  too  fatally  executed.  In  the  meantime,  various  arrests  of  Jesuits  ann 
Papists  were  made. 

About  a  fortnight  afterwards,  on  Saturday,  October  \2,  Godfrey  was 
missing  from  his  house  in  Green's-lane,  in  the  Strand,  near  Hungerford- 


88'  Sir  Edmund  Berry  Godfrey. 

mai'ket,  where  he  was  a  wood-merchant,  his  wood  wharf  being  at  the 
end  of  what  is  now  Northumberland-street.  Nor  could  the  most  sedu- 
lous search  obtain  any  other  tidings  of  Godfrey  for  some  days,  but  that 
he  was  seen  near  St.  Clement's  Church,  in  the  Strand,  on  the  day  above 
mentioned ;  he  left  home  at  nine  in  the  morning.  Shortly  after  this,  he 
was  seen  in  Marylebone,  and  at  noon  of  the  same  day,  had  an  interview 
on  business  with  one  of  the  churchwardens  of  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields. 
From  this  time  Godfiey  was  never  seen  again  alive ;  nor  was  any  mes- 
sage received  by  his  sei"vants  at  home.  Sunday  came,  and  no  tidings  of 
him;  Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  and  Thursday  followed  with  the 
like  result.  At  six  o'clock,  on  the  evening  of  the  last-mentioned  day, 
the  17th,  as  two  men  were  crossing  a  field  on  the  south  side  of  Prim- 
rose-hill, they  observed  a  sword-belt,  stick,  and  a  pair  of  gloves,  lying 
on  the  side  of  the  hedge :  they  paid  no  attention  to  them  at  the  time, 
and  walked  on  to  Chalk  Farm,  then  called  at  the  White  House,  where 
they  mentioned  to  the  master  what  they  had  seen,  and  he  accompanied 
them  to  the  spot  where  the  articles  lay ;  one  ot  the  men,  stooping  down, 
looked  into  the  adjoining  ditch,  and  there  saw  the  body  of  a  man  lying 
on  his  face.  It  was  Sir  Edmund  Berry  Godfrey:  "  his  sword  was 
thrust  through  him,  but  no  blood  was  on  his  clothes,  or  about  him ;  his 
shoes  were  clean  ;  his  money  was  in  his  pocket,  but  nothing  was  about 
his  neck  [although  when  he  went  from  home,  he  had  a  large  lace  band 
on] ,  and  a  mark  was  all  aroimd  it,  an  inch  broad,  which  showed  he 
had  been  strangled.  His  breast  was  likewise  all  over  marked  with 
bruises,  and  his  neck  was  broken  ;  and  it  was  visible  he  was  first 
strangled,  then  carried  to  that  place,  where  his  sword  was  run  through 
his  dead  body."  It  was  conveyed  to  the  White  House,  then  the  farm- 
house ot  the  estate  of  Chalcott's,  abbreviated  to  Chalc's,  and  then  cor- 
rupted to  Chalk  Farm,  in  our  day  a  noted  taveni.  A  jury  was  im- 
panelled, and  the  evidence  of  two  surgeons  showed  that  Godfrey's 
death  must  have  been  occasioned  by  strangulation.  The  ditch  was  dry, 
and  there  were  no  marks  of  blood  in  it,  and  his  shoes  were  perfectly 
clean,  as  if,  after  being  assassinated,  he  had  been  carried  and  deposited 
in  the  place  where  he  was  found.  A  large  sum  ot  money  and  a  diamond 
ring  were  found  in  his  pockets  ;  but  his  pocket-book,  in  which,  as  a 
magistrate,  he  used  to  take  notes  of  examinations,  was  missing.  Spota 
of  white  wax,  an  article  which  he  never  usal  himself,  and  which  was 
only  employed  by  persons  of  distinction,  and  by  priests,  were  scattered 
over  his  clothes ;  and  from  this  circumstance  persons  were  led  to  con- 
clude that  the  Roman  Catholics  were  concerned  in  his  death.  Still, 
there  appeared  no  proof  of  his  being  murdered ;  but  it  was  regarded  as 


Sir  Edmund  Berry  Godfrey.  89 

a  direct  testimony  of  the  existence  of  the  Popish  Plot ;  warrants  were 
signed  for  twenty-six  persons  who  had  been  implicated  by  Oates,  and 
who  were  committed  to  the  Tower. 

From  the  ^V'hite  House,  the  corpse  of  Godfrey  was  conveyed  home, 
and  embalmed,  and  after  lying  in  state  for  two  days  at  Bridewell  Hos- 
pital, was  borne  from  thence,  with  great  solemnity,  to  St.  Martin's 
Church,  to  be  interred.  The  p^U  was  supported  by  eight  knights — all 
justices  of  the  peace  ;  and  in  the  procession  were  all  the  City  aldermen, 
together  with  seventy-two  clergymen,  in  full  canonicals,  who  walked 
in  couples  before  the  body,  and  a  great  multitude  followed  after.  The 
clergyman  who  preached  a  seniion  on  the  occasion,  was  supported  on 
each  side  by  a  brother  divine.  The  body  was  interred  in  the  church- 
yard ;  and  a  tablet  to  the  memory  of  Sir  Edmund  Berry  was  erected  in 
Westminster  Abbey. 

As  yet,  however,  the  perpetrators  of  this  murder  had  not  been  dis- 
covered, though  a  reward  of  500/.  and  the  King's  protection  had  been 
offered  to  any  person  making  the  disclosure ;  but,  within  a  few  dayf 
afterwards,  one  William  Bedloe,  who  had  been  a  servant,  was  brought 
to  London  from  Bristol,  where  he  had  been  arrested  by  his  own  desire, 
on  affirming  that  he  was  acquainted  with  some  circumstances  relating 
to  Godfrey's  death.  He  stated  that  he  had  seen  the  murdered  body  in 
Somerset  House  (then  the  Queen's  residence),  and  had  been  offered  a 
large  sum  of  money  to  assist  in  removing  it.  It  was  remembered  that 
at  that  time  the  Queen  was  for  some  days  in  so  close  confinement  that 
no  person  was  admitted.  Prince  Rupert  came  there  to  wait  on  her, 
but  was  denied  access.  This  raised  a  strong  suspicion  of  her ;  but  the 
King  would  not  suffer  that  matter  to  go  any  further.  Coleman,  the 
Duke  of  York's  secretary,  who  was  soon  afterwards  convicted  of  high 
treason,  when  he  lay  in  Newgate,  confessed  that  he  had  spoken  of  the 
duke's  designs  to  Godfrey  ;  "  upon  which  the  duke  gave  orders  to  kill 
him." 

Soon  after,  Miles  Prance,  a  goldsmith,  who  had  some  time  wrought 
in  the  Queen's  Chapel,  was  taken  up  on  suspicion  of  having  been  ccn- 
cerned  in  the  death  of  Godfrey  ;  and  on  his  subsequent  confession  and 
testimony,  confirmed  by  Bedloe  and  others,  Green,  Hill,  and  Berry,  all 
in  subordinate  situations  at  Somerset  House,  were  convicted  of  the 
murder,  which  they  had  effected  in  conjunction  with  two  Iribh  Ji.'suits, 
who  had  absconded.  It  appeared  that  the  unfortunate  magistrate  had 
been  inveigled  into  Somerset  House,  at  the  water-gate,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  his  assistance  being  wanted  to  allay  a  quarrel ;  and  that  he  was 
immediately  strangled  with  a  twisted  handkerchief,  after  which  Green, 


90  Canonbury,  and  Lady  Elizabeth  Compton. 

"  with  all  his  force,  wrung  his  neck  almost  round."  On  the  fourth 
night  after,  the  assassins  conveyed  his  body,  first  in  a  sedan  chair,  tr 
Soho,  and  then  on  a  horse  to  the  place  where  it  was  afterwards  dis- 
covered, near  Primrose-hill ;  where  one  of  the  Jesuits  ran  his  sword 
through  the  corpse,  in  the  manner  it  was  found.  Green,  Berry,  and 
Hill  were  executed  ;  each  of  them  affirming  his  innocence  to  the  very 
last. 

This  honible  event  is  commemorated  in  a  contemporary  medal  of 
Sir  Edmund  Berry,  representing  him,  on  the  obverse,  walking  with  a 
broken  neck  and  a  sword  in  his  body ;  and  on  the  reverse,  St.  Denis, 
bearing  his  head  in  his  hand,  with  this  inscription : 

"  Godfrey  walks  up-hill  after  he  was  dead, 
Denis  walks  down-hill  carrying  his  head." 

There  is  also  a  medal  with  the  head  of  Godfrey  being  strangled  ;  and 
the  body  being  canned  on  horseback,  with  Primrose-hill  in  the  dis- 
tance :  likewise  a  large  medallion,  with  the  Pope  and  the  devil ;  the 
strangulation  by  two  Jesuits ;  Sir  Godfrey  borne  in  a  sedan  ;  and  the 
body,  with  the  sword  through  it. 


Canonbury,  and  Lady  Elizabeth  Compton. 

Few  of  our  suburban  parishes  possess  such  antiquarian  and  historic 
interest  as  large  and  populous  Islington,  where,  whatever  may  be  the 
Doast,  the  present  has  not  effaced  the  glory  of  the  past.  The  original 
hamlet  of  Iseldon  was,  in  all  probability,  of  British  origin,  lying  within 
the  forest  of  Middlesex,  whither  the  conquering  Roman  came  with 
camp,  and  station,  and  Ermine-street — all  to  be  traced  to  the  present 
hour.  The  village  of  huts,  the  Iseldon  of  the  Britons,  became  a  Saxon 
parish  before  the  coming  of  the  Normans ;  and  its  winding  ways  are 
identified  in  the  irregular  features  of  the  old  village.  Among  its  early 
landowners  was  the  family  of  Beniors,  who,  in  th<;  thirteenth  century, 
granted  to  the  Priors  of  the  canons  of  St.  Hartliolomcw,  in  West  Smith- 
'•ield,  for  a  bury,  or  retiring-place,  the  manor,  which  took  the  name  of 
Canonbury.  The  year  of  the  gift  is  unknown,  but  the  estate  is  enu- 
merated among  the  possessions  of  the  priory,  in  a  confirmation  granted 
by  Henry  Ml.,  bearing  date  1253.  A  silly  notion  once  prevailed  that 
there  was  formerly  a  snbtenani'an  communication  betwa-n  the  Priory 
of  St.  Bartholomew  and  Canonbury  House.  We  have  contemporary 
evidence  of  the  general  productiveness  of  the  estate;  its  meadow  for 
pasture;  its  fields  of  corn,  and  the  excellent  produce  of  its  dairies;  so 


Caiionbury,  and  Lady  Eliaabeih  Compton.         91 

that  from  the  thirteenth  century  till  the  Reformation,  Canonbury,  and 
other  large  estates  in  Islington,  were  cultivated  under  the  monks. 
Those  of  Canonbury  even  supplied  the  distant  priory  with  water,  much 
esteemed  for  its  clearness  and  purity,  from  "  the  condyte  hede  of  Saynt 
Barthilmewes,  within  the  manor  of  Canbury,"  or  Canonbury.  To  it  a 
small  piece  of  land  called  le  Coteliers,  or  the  Cutlers,  was  added,  to 
benefit  the  soul  of  one  John  of  Kentish  Town,  deceased.  The  manor 
retains  its  old  boundaries  to  the  present  day — /.<?.,  from  the  Cock  at 
Highbury, along  the  Upper-street,  to  the  statue  of  Sir  Hugh  MyddeUon, 
on  Islington-green  ;  thence  -via  Lower-road  to  St.  Paul's  Church,  Ball's 
Pond ;  and  so  by  St.  Paul's-road  back  to  the  starting-point.  The 
waste  of  the  manor  exists  in  the  triangular  plot  of  land  called 
Islington-green. 

At  the  Dissolution  of  the  monasteries,  under  Henry  VIII.,  the  Priory 
of  St.  Bartholomew  surrendered  itself  into  the  King's  hands,  and  the 
manor  of  Canonbury,  with  other  lands,  was  granted  to  Thomas 
Cromwell,  Earl  of  Essex.  In  his  hands  it  remained  but  one  year;  for 
in  1540,  having  assisted  in  palming  off  Anne  of  Cleves  on  Henry,  as  a 
marriageable  beauty,  he  suffered  attainder  ;  the  manor  again  reverted  to 
the  King,  who  charged  it  with  an  annuity  of  twenty  pounds,  payable  to 
Anne  of  Cleves,  the  innocent  cause  of  Cromwell's  disgrace  and  ruin, 
and  she  received  this  annuity  until  her  decease  in  1557.  The  manor 
remained  in  the  hands  of  the  crown  till  Edward  VI.,  in  the  first  year  of 
his  reign,  granted  it  to  John  Dudley,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  father- 
in-law  of  Lady  Jane  Grey ;  and  he  held  possession  till  his  attainder,  in 
1553,  put  the  place  into  the  hands  of  Queen  Mary,  who,  in  1557,  granted 
the  manor  to  Thomas  Lord  Wentworth;  and  he,  in  1570,  alienated 
it  to  the  celebrated  and  affluent  Sir  John  Spencer,  Knight  and  Bait., 
commonly  calleti  "  Rich  Spencer,"  who  so  greatly  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  public  spirit  during  his  mayoralty  in  London  in  1595,  which 
he  kept  at  Crosby-place,  purchased  by  him  in  the  previous  year. 
Canonbury  was  his  country  house  ;  and  in  one  of  his  journeys  hither 
he  had  well  nigh  been  carried  off  by  a  pirate,  in  the  expectation  of  a 
heavy  ransom.  The  pirate  came  over  from  Dunkirk  with  twelve 
musketeers,  in  a  shallop ;  he  reached  Barking  Ci-cek  in  the  night,  and 
leaving  his  shallop  in  the  custody  of  six  of  his  men,  with  the  other  six 
he  came  as  far  as  Islington,  where  they  hid  themselves  in  ditches,  near 
the  path  by  which  Sir  John  usually  came  to  Canonbury ;  but  by  an 
accident  he  was  detained  in  London,  and  thus  escaped — the  pirate  and 
his  mates  returning  to  their  shallop,  and  safe  to  Dunkirk  again. 
Ten  years  before  his  death  "  Rich  Spencer"  had  his  soul  crossed  by 


92  Canonhury,  and  Lady  Elizabeth  Campion. 

a  daughter,  who  insisted  upon  giving  her  hand  to  a  slenderly  endowed 
young  nobleman,  the  Lord  Compton.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  rather 
perilous  thing  for  a  citizen  in  those  times  to  thwart  the  matrimonial 
designs  of  a  nobleman,  even  towards  a  member  of  his  own  family.  On 
the  15th  of  March,  1598-9,  John  Chamberlain  adverted,  in  one  of  his 
Letters,  to  the  troubles  connected  with  the  love  affairs  of  Eliza  Spencer. 
"  Our  Sir  John  Spencer,"  says  he,  "  was  the  last  week  committed  to 
.  the  Fleet  for  a  contempt,  and  hiding  away  his  daughter,  who,  they  say, 
is  contracted  to  the  Lord  Compton  ;  but  now  he  is  out  again,  and  by  all 
means  seeks  to  hinder  the  match,  alleging  a  pre-contract  to  Sir  Arthur 
Henningham's  son.  But  upon  his  beating  and  misusing  her,  she  was 
sequestered  to  one  Barker's,  a  proctor,  and  from  thence  to  Sir  Henry 
Billingsley's,  where  she  yet  remains  till  the  matter  be  tried.  If  the 
obstinate  and  self-willed  fellow  should  persist  in  his  doggedness  (as  he 
protests  he  will),  and  give  her  nothing,  the  poor  lord  should  have  a 
warm  catch." 

Sir  John  having  persisted  in  his  self-willed  course  of  desiring  to  have 
something  to  say  in  the  disposition  of  his  dau;,'hter  in  marriage,  the 
young  couple  became  united  against  his  will.  The  lady  is  traditionally 
said  to  have  contrived  her  elopement  fi-om  her  father's  house  at  Canon- 
bury  in  a  baker's  basket !  Sir  John,  for  some  time  steadily  refused  to 
take  Lady  Compton  back  into  his  good  graces.  At  length  a  recon- 
ciliation was  effected  by  a  pleasant  stratagem  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
When  Lady  Compton  had  her  first  child,  the  Queen  requested  that 
Sir  John  would  join  her  in  standing  as  sponsor  for  the  first  ofispring  of 
*  young  couple  happy  in  their  love,  but  discarded  by  their  father.  The 
Knight  readily  complied,  and  her  Majesty  dictated  her  own  surname 
for  the  Christian  name  of  the  child.  The  ceremony  being  performed, 
Sir  John  assured  the  Queen  that,  having  discarded  his  own  daughter,  he 
should  adopt  the  boy  as  his  son.  The  parents  of  the  child  being  in- 
troduced, the  knight,  to  his  great  surprise,  discovered  that  he  had 
adopted  his  own  grandson ;  who,  in  reality,  became  the  ultimate  in- 
heritor of  his  wealth. 

There  is  extant  the  following  curious  characteristic  letter  of  Lady 
Compton  to  her  husband,  apparently  written  on  the  paternal  wealth 
coming  into  their  hands : — 

"  My  sweetk  Liff,— Now  I  have  declared  to  you  my  mind  for  the 
•cttling  of  your  state,  I  suppose  that  it  were  best  for  me  to  bethink,  or 
consider  with  myself,  what  allowance  were  meetest  for  me.  For  consi- 
derinjj  what  care  I  ever  had  of  your  estate,  and  how  respectfully  I  dealt 


Canonhury,  and  Lady  Elizabeth  Compton.  93 

with  lliose,  which,  by  the  laws  of  God,  of  nature,  and  civil  polity,  wit, 
religion,  government,  and  honesty,  you,  my  dear,  are  bound  to,  I  pray 
and  beseech  you  to  grant  to  me,  your  most  kind  and  loving  wife,  the 
6um  of  1600/.  per  annum,  quarterly  to  be  paid. 

"Also  for  laundresses,  when  I  travel,  I  will  have  them  sent  away 
with  the  carriages,  to  see  all  safe  ;  and  the  cham  jermaids  I  will  have  go 
before  with  the  grooms,  that  the  chambers  niay  be  ready,  sweet,  and 
clean. 

"  Also,  that  it  is  indecent  for  me  to  crowd  up  myself  with  my  gentle- 
man usher  in  my  coach,  I  will  have  him  to  have  a  convenient  horse  to 
attend  me  either  in  city  or  country,  and  I  must  have  two  footmen  ;  and 
my  desire  is  that  you  defray  all  the  charges  for  me. 

"  And  for  myself  (besides  my  yearly  allowance),  I  would  have  twenty 
gowns  of  apparel,  six  of  them  excellent  good  ones,  eight  of  them  for  the 
country,  and  six  others  of  them  very  excellent  good  ones. 

"  Also,  I  would  have  put  into  my  purse  20C0/.,  and  200/.,  and  so 
you  to  pay  my  debts. 

"  Also,  I  would  have  6000/.  to  buy  me  jewels,  and  400c/.  to  buy  me 
a  pearl  chain. 

"  Now,  seeing  I  have  been  and  am  so  reasonable  unto  you,  I  pray 
you  do  find  my  children  apparel,  and  their  schooling;  and  all  my 
servants,  men  and  women,  their  wages. 

"  Also,  I  will  have  all  my  house  furnished,  and  all  my  lodging- 
chambers  to  be  suited  with  all  such  furniture  as  is  fit ;  as  beds,  stools, 
chairs,  suitable  cushions,  carpets,  silver  warming-pans,  cupboards  of 
plate,  fair  hangings,  and  such  like.  So,  for  my  drawing-chamber,  in  all 
houses  I  will  have  them  delicately  furnished,  both  with  hangings,  couch, 
canopy,  glass,  chairs,  cushions,  and  all  things  thereto  belonging. 

"  i  would  also  (besides  the  allowance  for  my  apparel)  have  600/. 
added  yearly  (quarterly  to  be  paid),  for  the  performance  of  charitable 
works,  and  those  things  I  would  not,  neither  will,  be  accountable  for. 

•*  Also,  I  will  have  three  horses  for  my  own  saddle,  that  none  shall 
dare  to  lend  or  borrow ;  none  lend  but  I  ;  none  bon-ow  but  you. 

"  Also,  I  would  have  two  gentlewomen,  lest  one  should  be  sick,  or 
have  some  other  lett.  Also  believe  that  it  is  an  indecent  thing  for  a 
gentlewoman  to  stand  mumping  alone,  when  God  hath  blessed  their 
lord  and  lady  with  a  great  estate. 

"  Also,  when  I  ride  a  hunting,  or  hawking,  or  travel  from  one  home 
to  another,  I  will  have  them  attending ;  so,  for  either  of  these  said 
women  I  must  and  will  have  a  horse. 

"Also,  I  will  have  six  or  eight  gentlemen;  and  I  will  have  my  two 


94  Canonbiirj',  and  Lady  ElizabctJi  Coinpton. 

coaches — one  lined  with  velvet,  to  myself,  with  four  very  fair  hoises, 
and  a  coach  for  my  women,  lined  with  cloth ;  one  laced  with  gold, 
the  other  with  scarlet,  and  laced  with  watch-lace  and  silver,  with  four 
good  horses. 

"  Also,  I  will  have  two  coachmen :  one  for  my  own  coach,  the  other 
for  my  women's. 

"  Also,  at  any  time  when  I  travel,  I  will  be  allowed  not  only  carriages 
and  spare  horses  for  me  and  my  women,  but  I  will  have  such  carriages 
as  shall  be  fitting  for  all,  orderly ;  not  pestering  my  things  with  my 
women's,  nor  theirs  with  chambermaids,  or  theirs  with  washmaids. 

"  Also,  my  desire  is,  that  you  would  pay  your  debts,  build  Ashby 
House,  and  purchase  lands,  and  lend  no  money  (as  you  love  God)  to 
the  Lord  Chamberlain,*  which  would  have  all,  perhaps  your  life,  from 
you.  Remember  his  son,  my  Lord  Waldon,  what  entertainment  he 
gave  me  when  you  were  at  Tilt-yard.  If  you  were  dead,  he  said  he 
would  marry  me.  I  pretest  I  j^rieve  to  see  the  poor  man  have  so  little 
wit  and  honesty  to  use  his  friends  so  vilely.  Also,  he  fed  me  with 
untruths  concerning  the  Charter-house ;  but  that  is  the  least :  he  wished 
me  much  harm ;  you  know  him.  God  keep  you  and  me  from  him, 
and  such  as  he  is. 

"  So,  now  that  I  have  declared  to  you  what  I  would  have,  and  what 
that  is  I  would  not  have,  I  pray,  when  you  be  an  earl,  to  allow  me 
looo/*  more  than  now  desired,  and  double  attendance. 

"  Your  loving  wife, 

"Eliza  Compton." 

The  above  letter,  it  is  thought,  was  written  about  1617.  It  is  con- 
cluded fi-om  a  lease,  dated  1603,  that  Sir  John  Spencer  was  then 
resident  at  Canonbury ;  and  from  his  granddaughter  being  baptized  at 
Islington,  it  is  probable  that  Lord  and  Lady  Compton  were  resident  at 
the  mansion  in  1605.  In  1618,  the  year  after  Lady  Compton  made  the 
above  stipulation  for  increase  of  income.  Lord  Compton  was  created 
Karl  of  Northampton  ;  whether  the  addition  was  made  we  are  not  in- 
formed. His  Lordship  died  in  1630,  in  this  strange  manner,  asd;"scribed 
in  a  letter  dated  July  2  :  "  Yesterday  senight,  the  Earl  of  Northampton, 
lord-president  of  Wales  (after  he  had  waited  on  the  King  at  supper, 
and  had  also  supped),  went  into  a  boat,  with  others,  to  wash  himself  in 
the  Thames ;  and  so  soon  as  his  legs  were  in  the  water  but  to  the  kiieet^ 
ae  had  the  colic,  and  cried  out,  '  Have  me  into  the  bo;'t  again,  for  I  am 


*  Thomas  Howard,  Earl  of  Suflblk,  mode  Lord  Treasurer  in  1613. 


Canoiibury,  and  its  Tenants.  95 

n  dead  man !' "  From  the  Earl  is  lineally  descended  the  present 
owner  of  Canonbury,  who  is  the  eleventh  Earl  and  third  Marquis  of 
Northampton. 

Canonbury  has  had  many  tenants  of  distinction.  Soon  after  1605, 
Thomas  Egerton,  both  when  Lord  Keeper  EUesmere,  and  when  Lord 
Chancellor,  resided  here;  as  did  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  when  Attorney- 
General,  from  February,  1616  ;  as  also,  at  the  time  of  his  receiving  the 
Great  Seal,  Jan.  7,  1618,  and  for  some  time  afterwards.  From  1627  to 
1635,  Canonbury  was  rented  by  Lord  Keeper  Coventry.  In  the  Straf- 
ford Papers  is  a  letter  from  the  Earl  of  Derby,  dated  Jan.  29,  1635, 
from  Canbury  Park  (as  the  place  was  then  called),  where  he  was  staid 
from  St.  James's  by  the  greatest  snow  he  ever  saw  in  England.  In  164 1, 
commenced  the  Great  Rebellion,  in  which  James,  Earl  of  Northampton, 
was  slain  at  Hopton  Heath,  near  Stafford,  in  1642.  The  young  Earl, 
together  with  his  brother,  were  actively  engaged  on  the  King's  side; 
and  its  noble  and  loyal  owner,  in  1650  and  1651,  was  comjxflled  to 
mortgage  Canonbury,  to  enable  him  to  incur  debts  in  the  service  of  his 
sovereign.  From  this  time  Canonbury  House  was  occupied  separately ; 
for  it  is  apparent  from  the  mortgage  of  1661,  that  the  mansion-house 
was  then  on  lease  to  Arthur  Dove,  and  the  Tower  to  Edward  Elhs. 
The  last  nobleman  who  resided  at  Canonbury  was  \\'illiam.  Viscount 
Fielding,  Earl  of  Denbigh,  who  died  here  the  23rd  of  August,  1O85. 

To  return  to  the  mansion.  The  year  1362  has  been  assigned  as 
the  date  of  the  original  building,  though  two  Arabic  figures,  or 
iiumerals  found  therein,  imply  a  much  later  date.  Previous  to  the  Dis- 
solution, the  last  head  was  Prior  Bolton,  and  in  his  days,  which  extended 
from  1509  to  if,33,  the  old  manor-house  was  rebuilt,  and  the  adjacent 
lands,  to  the  extent  of  about  sixteen  acres,  enclosed.  The  central  object 
is  the  red-brick  Tower,  seventeen  feet  square  by  fifty-eight  high.  In  a 
wall,  let  into  the  brickwork,  were  several  stone  carvings,  about  sixteen 
inches  square,  of  the  Prior's  rebus — a  bird-bolt  through  a  tun — 

"  Old  Prior  Bolton  with  his  bolt  and  tun  ;" 

one  of  these  sculptures  is  still  ^<frfect.  This  rebus  is  also  said  to  be  still 
extant  in  three  other  parts  of  the  building. 

Sir  John  Spencer,  after  his  purchase  of  the  manor,  did  not  probably 
reside  here  till  1603.  It  must  have  been  about  this  time,  if  at  ail,  that 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  resided  here.  It  is  true  that  he  lived  on  the  manor, 
in  a  house  believed  to  be  near  the  site  of  Islington  Chapel. 

During  the  last  century,  Canonbury  was  occupied,  says  Tomlins,  "  by 
transitory  visitants,  who  went  thither  for  fresh  air,  or  to  pursue  their 


96  Canonhivyy  and  its  Tenants. 

literary  labours  in  retirement ;  indeed,  a  list  of  its  occupants  would 
comprise  jaded  statesmen,  wearied  encyclopaedists,  busy  citizens,  and 
controversial  nonconformists,  who  all  seemed  to  regard  Canonbury  as  a 
place  of  repose."  It  was  let  in  separate  apartments  or  suites,  each 
door  having  a  knocker  on  the  outside,  which  puzzles  occasional  visitors 
at  the  present  day.  Prior  Bolton's  Tower,  though  its  oak  staircase  is 
far  from  fine,  is  the  most  interesting  portion  of  the  whole  place.  It  is, 
indeed,  the  staircase  to  the  four-and-twenty  rooms  of  the  Spencer  man- 
sion, which  has  been  unsparingly  modernized.  Only  two  of  the  rooms 
contain  the  original  oak  panelling  of  Spencer's  time.  These  chambers 
are  large  and  lofty :  in  one  the  fireplace  is  surmounted  with  figures  ot 
Faith  and  Hope,  and  above  are  the  Spencer  aiTns. 

Ephraim  Chambers,  the  dictionary-maker,  was  one  of  the  literary 
lodgers  at  Canonbury,  where  he  died  May  i,r;,  1740;  he  was  buried 
from  thence  in  the  cloisters  of  Westminster  Abbey.  Oliver  Goldsmith 
came  to  lodge  at  the  Tower  at  the  close  of  1762.  Sir  John  Hawkins 
tells  us  that  Newbery  had  apartments  in  the  Tower,  and  induced  Gold- 
smith to  remove  there,  the  publisher  being  Oliver's  responsible  pay- 
master, at  50/.  a  year — ecjual  to  twice  the  amount  now.  The  landlady, 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Fleming,  stout  and  elderly,  was,  it  is  said,  painted  by 
Hogarth,  one  of  Goldsmith's  visitors.  There  were  still  green  fields  and 
lanes  in  Islington.  Glimpses  were  discernible  yet  even  of  the  old  time, 
and  the  country  all  about  was  woodland.  There  were  walks  where 
houses  were  not,  nor  ten-aces,  nor  taverns;  and  where  stolen  hours 
might  be  given  to  precious  thoughts  in  the  intervals  of  toilsome  labour. 
While  here,  Goldsmith  wrote  his  History  of  England,  "  in  a  Series 
of  Letters  fiom  a  Nobleman  to  his  Son."  Oliver  had  several  visitors 
here,  as  testified  in  Mrs.  Fleming's  incidental  expenses:  " four  gentlemen 
have  tea  for  eighteen  pence;"  wines  and  cakes  are  supplied  for  the  same 
sum  ;  bottles  of  port  are  charged  two  shillings  each  ;  rent  for  the  reten- 
tion of  Goldsmith's  room  in  his  absence,  is  charged  at  the  rate  of  about 
three  shillings  a  week.  At  Islington,  Oliver  continued  a  resident  till 
towards  the  end  of  1764.  Sir  John  Hawkins  has  recorded  Goldsmith's 
abode  here  as  "concealment  from  his  creditors,"  though  the  reverse  may 
have  been  the  case,  his  removal  thence  being  occasioned  by  his  an-est ; 
his  landlady  latterly  narrowed  the  credit  to  sucli  items  as  sixpence  for 
"  sassafras-tea,"  twopence  for  a  pint  of  ale,  and  twopence  for  "  opodeU 
dock."  A  number  of  literary  acquaintances  Goldsmith  hail  for  fel- 
low-occupants  of  the  Ccutle  (as  Canonbury  Tower  was  called) ;  they 
formed  a  temporary  club,  which  held  its  meetings  at  the  Crown 
tavern,  on  tiie  Islington  Lower  Road,  and  here  Oliver  presided  in  hit 


Canonbury,  and  its  Tenants,  97 

own  genial  style,  and  was  the  life  and  delight  of  the  company-    Here 
ends  the  literary  tenancy : 

"  See  on  the  distant  slope,  majestic  shows 
Old  Canonbury's  tower,  an  ancient  pile 
To  various  fates  assigned  ;  and  where  by  turns 
Meanness  and  grandeur  have  alternate  reigned ; 
Thither  in  later  days  hath  genius  fled 
From  yonder  city  to  repine  and  die. 
There  the  sweet  bard  of  Auburn  sat  and  tuned 
The  plaintive  murmurings  of  his  village  dirge  ; 
There  learned  Chambers  treasured  lore  for  men. 
And  Newbery  there  his  A,  B,  Cs  for  babes." 

Canonbury,  after  this  occupancy,  was  leased  in  1770  to  Mr.  John 
Dawes,  for  sixty-one  years,  who  converted  the  ancient  mansion  into 
three  dwelling-houses ;  Mr.  Dawes  also  built  other  houses  on  the  old 
site.  Viewed  from  the  Alwyne-road,  that  occupies  the  space  between 
the  New  River  and  the  old  garden-wall,  Canonbury  House  presents  to 
the  eye  a  lofty  range  of  well-tiled  buildings,  with  some  gardens,  that 
still  present  an  air  of  seclusion.  Nelson,  in  181 1,  described  the  pleasing 
appearance  of  these  gardens,  when  the  New  River  formed  their  boundary, 
and  the  neighbouring  fields  were  unenclosed.  From  the  leads  of  the 
Tower  may  be  enjoyed,  in  fine  clear  weather,  a  delightful  view  ot 
London.  In  18 17,  it  was  described  as  including  "a  vast  extent  ot 
country,  teeming  with  towns  and  villages,  and  finely  diversified  by  hill 
and  dale ;  that  over  London  is  uncommonly  grand ;  on  a  clear  day  the 
whole  course  of  the  river  Thames  may  be  traced  as  far  as  Gravesend, 
with  the  hills  of  Kent  rising  beyond,  and  all  the  intervening  tract  spotted 
by  buildings,  and  enriched  by  cultivation."  This  may  have  been  correct 
fifty  years  ago,  when  it  was  written ;  but  the  increase  of  cities  is  apt  to 
spoil  the  prosj>ect  of  them. 

.  Here,  in  the  last  century,  rose  from  a  small  alehouse,  Canonbury 
Tavern,  started  by  a  landlord  who  had  been  a  private  soldier ;  but  its 
celebrity  was  chiefly  owing  to  the  fame  of  an  attractive  widow,  who 
resided  here  from  1785  to  1808;  she  added  several  new  rooms,  and 
laid  out  the  bowling-green  and  tea-gardens ;  and  the  ancient  fish-pond 
was  included  in  the  premises,  which  occupied  about  four  acres,  within 
the  old  park  wall  of  the  priory  of  St.  Bartholomew.  Next  were  added 
Assembly-rooms,  and  the  gay  Assembly  in  1810.  But  manners  change 
with  times,  and  the  crowds  who  enjoyed  themselves  on  the  green,  and 
were  at  home  among  the  grotesquely  costumed  figures  provided  for 
their  amusement,  could  not  be  expected  to  reach  the  higher  delight? 
of  the  ball-room.  The  costly  rooms  were  swept  away,  and  upon  part 
of  the  site  has  been  erected  a  well-appointed  tavern,  nearly  opposite  to 


93  "  The  Lady  Arabella's"  Fatal  Marriage. 

the  ivy-clad  Tower.  The  old  glass-coach  no  longer  brings  its  gay 
freight  to  Canonbury  Tavern  ;  but  there  may  be  treasured  up  a  few 
of  the  quaint  artistic  conceits — the  grotesque  tenants  of  the  old  grounds 
— for  the  gratification  of  the  curious,  and  such  as  can  "  suck  melancholy 
from  a  song." 


"The  Lady  Arabella's"  Fatal  Marriage. 

"Where  London's  towre  its  turrets  show, 
So  stately  by  the  Thames's  side, 
Faire  Arabella,  child  of  woe ! 
For  many  a  day  had  sat  and  sighed. 

And  as  shee  heard  the  waves  arise, 

And  as  shee  heard  the  bleake  windes  roare, 

As  fast  did  heave  her  heartfelte  sighes, 
And  still  so  fast  her  teares  did  poure!" 

Ballad,  probably  written  by  MickU. 

Although  the  name  of  Arabella  Stuai't  is  scarcely  mentioned  in 
history, — for  her  whole  life  seems  to  consist  of  secret  history — how  its 
slight  domestic  incidents  could  produce  results  so  greatly  disproportioned 
to  their  apparent  cause,  may  always  excite  our  curiosity.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Charles  Stuart,  Earl  of  Lennox,  younger  brother  of  Lord 
Darnley,  and  was  by  her  affinity  with  J.imes  L  and  our  Elizabeth, 
placed  near  the  throne ;  too  near,  it  seems,  for  her  happiness  and  quiet. 
Her  double  relation  to  royalty  was  equally  obnoxious  to  the  jealousy 
of  Elizabeth  and  the  timidity  of  James,  and  they  secretly  dreaded  the 
supposed  danger  of  her  having  a  legitimate  offspring.  The  first  thing 
we  hear  of  "  the  Lady  Arabella"  concerns  a  marriage  :  marriages  are  the 
incidents  of  her  life,  and  the  fatal  event  which  terminated  it  was  marriage. 
Such  was  the  secret  spring  on  which  her  character  and  her  misfortunes 
revolved. 

James  proposed  for  the  husband  of  the  Lady  Arabella  one  of  he}- 
cousins,  Lord  Esmc  Stuart,  and  designed  her  for  his  heir  ;  but  Eliza- 
Iwth  interposed  to  prevent  the  match  ;  she  imprisoned  the  Lady  Ara- 
bella, on  licaring  of  her  infention  to  marry  a  son  of  the  Earl  of  North- 
uml>crland,  and  Elizabeth  would  not  deliver  her  up  to  the  King.  Mean- 
time, the  Pope,  intending  to  put  aside  James  on  account  of  his 
religion,  formed  a  chimerical  scheme  of  uniting  Arabella  with  a  prince 
of  the  House  of  Savoy,  and  setting  her  upon  the  ICnglish  throne;  but 
tiiis  project  faileil.  Sliorlly  after  tiie  accession  of  James  a  clumsy 
coiii|)iracy,  in  which  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  is  said  to  have  been  concerned. 


"  The  Lady  Arabella's"  Fatal  Marriage.  99 

was  formed  of  raising  her  to  the  throne,   but  it  does  not   seem  to 
have  been  shared  in  by  Arabella  herself. 

We  now  approach  that  event  of  the  Lady  Arabella's  life,  which  reads 
like  a  romantic  fiction  ;  and  the  misery,  pathos,  and  terror  of  the  cata- 
strophe, even  romantic  fiction  has  not  exceeded.  The  revels  of  Christmas, 
1 608,  had  hardly  closed,  when  she  renewed  a  connexion,  which  had  com- 
menced in  childhood,  with  Mr.  William  Seymour,  the  second  son  of 
Eail  Beauchamp,  and  a  private  marriage  took  place.  The  treaty  ol 
marriage  was  detected  in  February,  1609,  ^"'^  ^'^  parties  were  sum- 
moned before  the  Privy  Council.  Seymour  was  strongly  censured  for 
daring  to  ally  himself  with  the  royal  blood,  although  that  blood  was 
running  in  his  own  veins.  The  secret  marriage  was  discovered  about 
July,  in  the  following  year.  They  were  then  separately  confined,  the 
Lady  at  the  house  of  Sir  Thomas  Parry,  at  Lambeth,  and  Seymour  in 
the  Tower,  for  "  his  contempt  in  marrying  a  lady  of  the  royal  family 
without  the  King's  leave."  The  mansion  of  Sir  Thomas  Parry,  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster,  was  named  Copt  Hall,  and  was  de- 
scribed as  bounded  by  the  Thames,  being  a  fair  dwelling-house,  strongly 
built,  of  three  stories  high,  and  a  fair  staircase  breaking  out  from  it  of 
nineteen  feet  square.  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  in  1675,  carried  on  his  mechani- 
cal and  philosophical  experiments  in  this  house.  Copt  Hall  stood  at 
Vauxhall,  adjoining  the  premises  of  Burnett  and  Co.,  distillers.  This, 
their  first  confinement,  was  not  rigorous :  the  lady  walked  in  her  garden, 
and  the  husband  was  a  prisoner  at  large  in  the  Tower.  Some  inter- 
course they  had  by  letters,  which  after  a  time  was  discovered.  This 
was  followed  by  a  sad  scene.  The  King  had  now  resolved  to  con- 
sign this  unhappy  lady  to  the  stricter  care  of  the  Bishop  of  Durham. 
Lady  Arabella  was  so  subdued  at  this  distant  separation,  that  she  gave 
way  to  all  the  wildness  of  despair ;  she  fell  suddenly  ill,  and  could 
not  travel  but  in  a  litter,  and  with  a  physician.  In  her  way  to  Durham, 
she  was  so  greatly  disquieted  in  the  first  few  miles  of  her  uneasy  and 
troublesome  journey,  that  they  could  proceed  no  further  than  to 
Highgate.  The  physician  returned  to  town,  and  reported  her  in  no 
case  fit  for  travel.  The  King's  resolution,  however,  was,  that  "  she 
should  proceed  to  Durham,  if  he  were  King  f  "  "  We  answered,"  re- 
plied the  Doctor,  "  that  we  made  no  doubt  of  her  obedience."  "  Obedi- 
ence is  that  required,"  replied  the  King ;  "  which  being  performed,  I 
will  do  more  for  her  than  she  expected."  The  King,  however,  consented 
that  Lady  Arabella  should  remain  for  a  month  at  Highgate,  in  confine- 
ment, till  she  had  sufficiently  recovered  to  proceed  to  Durham.  A 
second  month's  delay  was  granted. 

H  2 


100        "  The  Lady  Arabellas"  Fatal  Marriage. 

But  the  day  of  her  departure  hastened.  She  and  Seymour  had  con- 
certed a  flight,  as  bold  in  its  plot,  and  as  beautifully  wild  as  any  recorded 
in  romantic  story.  The  day  preceding  her  departure,  Arabella  per- 
suaded a  female  attendant  to  consent  to  her  paying  a  last  visit  to  her 
husband,  and  to  wait  for  her  return  at  an  appointed  hour.  She  then 
assisted  the  Lady  Arabella  in  disguising  herself:  "  She  drew  a  pair  of  large 
French-fashioned  hose  or  trousers  over  her  petticoats ;  put  on  a  man's 
doublet  or  coat:  a  peruke,  whose  long  locks  covered  her  own  ringlets; 
a  black  hat,  a  black  cloak,  russet  boots  with  red  tops,  and  a  rapier  by 
her  side.  Thus  accoutred,  the  Lady  Arabella  stole  out  with  a  gentle- 
man about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  They  had  proceeded  a  mile 
and  a  half,  when  they  stopped  at  a  poor  inn,  where  one  of  her  con- 
federates was  waiting  with  hoi-ses ;  yet  she  was  so  sick  and  faint  that  the 
ostler  obsen'ed,  "the  gentleman  could  hardly  hold  out  to  London.'' 
But  at  six  o'clock  she  reached  B!ackwall,  where  a  boat  and  servants 
were  waiting.  Mr.  Seymour,  who  was  to  have  joined  her  here,  had  not 
yet  arrived :  and  in  opposition  to  her  earnest  entreaties,  her  attendants 
insisted  on  pushing  off,  saying  he  would  be  sure  to  follow  them.  The 
watermen  were  at  first  ordered  to  Woolwich ;  there  they  were  de- 
sired to  push  on  to  Gravcsend ;  then  to  Tilbury,  where,  complaining  of 
fatigue,  they  landed  torefiesh ;  but  tempted  by  their  freight,  reached  Lee, 

At  the  break  of  mora,  a  French  vessel  was  descried,  lying  at 
anchor  for  them,  about  a  mile  beyond ;  but  as  Seymour  had  not  yet 
arrived,  Arabella  was  desirous  to  lie  at  anchor  for  her  lord,  conscious 
that  he  would  not  fail  to  his  appointment.  If  he,  indeed,  had  been 
prevented  in  his  escape,  she  herself  cared  not  for  the  freedom  she  now 
possessed  ;  but  her  attendants,  being  awai"e  of  the  danger  of  being  over- 
taken by  a  king's  ship,  overruled  her  wishes,  and  hoisted  sail,  which 
occasioned  so  fatal  a  termination  to  this  romantic  adventure.  Seymour, 
indeed,  had  escaped  iiom  the  Tower.  lie  is  said  to  have  left  his  servant 
watching  at  iiis  door  to  warn  all  visitors  not  to  disturb  liis  master,  who 
lay  ill  with  a  raging  toothache.  "In  the  meanwhile,  .Mr.  Seymour, 
with  a  PeiTuque  and  a  Beard  of  blacke  Hair,  and  in  a  tauny  cloth  suit, 
walked  alone  without  suspition  from  his  lodgng,  out  at  the  great 
Westc  Doorc  of  the  Tower,  following  a  cart  that  had  brought  hinj 
billets  (of  firewood).  From  thence  ho  walked  along  by  the  Towei' 
W  harf,  by  the  Warders  of  the  South  Gate,  and  so  to  tlie  Iron  Gate, 
where  Rodney  was  ready,  with  oarcs  for  to  receive  him."  {Mr.  John 
More  to  Hir  Ralph  Winivood,  June  8th,  1611).  He  arrived  at  Lee. 
Time  prctsed,  Arabella  was  not  there;  but  in  tlie  distance  liedescriid  a 
votfecl.    Hiding  a  fibhcrmau  'or  t'^cnty  bhillingb  to  take  him  on  board. 


"  The  Lady  A rabellds "  Fatal  Marriage.         i o i 

♦«i  his  grief,  on  hailing  it,  he  discovered  that  it  was  not  the  French  vessel 
charged  with  his  Arabella  ;  but  he  found  another  ship  from  Newcastle, 
which  for  a  good  sum,  altered  its  course,  and  landed  him  in  Flanders. 
In  the  meanwhile,  the  escape  of  Arabella  became  known  to  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  hot  alarm  which  spread  may  seem  ludicrous  to  us.  The  poli- 
tical consequence  attached  to  the  union  and  flight  of  Arabella  and  Sey- 
mour shook  the  cabinet  with  consternation  ;  more  particularly  the  Scotch 
party,  who,  in  their  terror,  paralleled  it  with  the  Gunpowder  Treason. 

Confusion  and  alarm  prevailed  at  court.  Couriers  were  despatched 
to  the  sea-ports.  They  sent  to  the  Tower  to  warn  the  lieutenant  to 
be  doubly  vigilant  over  Seymour,  who,  to  his  surprise  had  escaped. 
The  family  of  the  Seymours  were  in  a  state  of  distraction  ;  and  a  letter 
from  Mr.  Francis  Seymour  to  his  grandfather,  the  Earl  of  Hertford, 
residing  then  at  his  seat  far  remote  from  the  capital,  acquainting  him  of 
the  escape  of  his  brother  and  the  lady,  still  bears  to  posterity  a  remark- 
able evidence  of  the  trepidations  and  consternation  of  the  old  Earl :  it 
arrived  in  the  middle  of  the  night,  accompanied  by  a  summons  to  attend 
the  Privy  Council.  In  the  perusal  of  a  letter  written  in  a  small  hand, 
and  filling  more  than  two  folio  pages,  such  was  his  agitation,  that  in 
holding  the  taper,  he  must  have  burnt  what  he  probably  had  not  read  ; 
the  letter  is  scorched,  and  the  flame  has  perforated  it  in  so  critical  a 
part,  that  the  poor  old  Earl  journeyed  to  town  in  a  state  of  uncertainty 
and  confusion.  I 

But  we  have  left  the  Lady  Arabella  alone  and  mournful  on  the  sea, 
not  praying  for  favourable  gales  to  convey  her  away,  but  still  imploring 
her  attendants  to  linger  for  her  Seymour ;  still  straining  her  sight  to  the 
point  of  the  horizon  for  some  speck  which  might  give  a  hope  of  the 
approach  of  the  boat  freighted  with  all  her  love.  Alas !  never  more  was 
Arabella  to  cast  a  single  look  on  her  lover  and  her  husband!  She  was 
overtaken  by  a  pink  in  the  King's  service  in  Calais  roads ;  and  then  she 
declared  that  she  cared  not  to  be  brought  back  again  to  her  imprison- 
ment should  Seymour  escape,  whose  safety  was  dearest  to  her. 

The  life  of  the  unhappy,  the  melancholy,  and  the  distracted  Arabella  | 
Stuart  is  now  to  close  in  an  imprisonment,  which  lasted  only  four  years; 
for  her  constitutional  delicacy,  her  rooted  sorrow,  and  the  violence  of 
her  feelings,  sunk  beneath  the  hopelessness  of  her  situation,  and  a  secret 
resolution  in  her  mind  to  refuse  the  aid  of  her  physicians,  and  to  wear 
away  the  faster  if  she  could,  the  feeble  remains  of  life.  What  passed 
in  that  dreadful  imprisonment  cannot,  perhaps,  be  recovered  for  authentic 
history ;  but  enough  is  known,  that  her  mind  grew  impaired,  and  that 
she  finally  lost  her  reason.    That  she  had  frequently  meditated  on 


102         "  TJie  Lady  Arabellas''  Fatal  Marriage. 

suicide  appears  in  her  letters ;  and  we  find  the  following  evidence  of  her 
utter  wretchedness  in  a  memorial  to  the  King:  "  In  all  humility,  the 
most  wretched  and  unfortunate  creature  that  ever  lived,  prostrates 
itselfe  at  the  feet  of  the  most  merciful  King  that  ever  was,  desiring  no- 
thing but  mercy  and  favour,  not  being  more  afflicted  for  anything  than 
for  the  losse  of  that  which  hath  binne  this  long  time  the  onely  comfort 
it  had  in  the  world,  and  which,  if  it  weare  to  do  again,  I  would  not 
adventure  the  losse  of  for  any  other  worldly  comfort ;  mercy  it  is  I 
desire,  and  that  for  God's  sake  ! " 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  Lady  Arabella,  who,  from  some  circum- 
stances not  sufficiently  opened  to  us,  was  an  important  personage,  de- 
signed by  others,  at  least,  to  play  a  high  character  in  the  political  drama ; 
thrice  selected  as  a  queen ;  but  the  consciousness  of  royalty  was  only 
felt  in  her  veins,  while  she  lived  in  the  poverty  of  dependence.  Many 
gallant  spirits  aspired  after  her  hand,  but  when  her  heart  secretly  selected 
one  beloved,  it  was  for  ever  deprived  of  domestic  happiness.  She  is 
said  not  to  have  been  beautiful,  and  to  have  been  beautiful ;  and  her 
very  portrait,  ambiguous  as  her  life,  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other. 
She  is  said  to  have  been  a  poetess,  and  not  a  single  verse  substantiates 
her  claim  to  the  laurel.  She  is  said  not  to  have  been  remarkable  for  her 
intellectual  accomplishments,  yet  a  Latin  letter  of  her  composition  has 
been  found  in  her  handwriting.  Acquainted  rather  with  her  conduct 
than  with  her  character,  for  us  the  Lady  Arabella  has  no  palpable  his- 
torical existence  ;  and  we  perceive  rather  her  shadow  than  herself.  A 
writer  of  romance  might  render  her  one  of  those  interesting  personages 
whose  griefs  have  been  deepened  by  their  royalty,  and  whose  adventures, 
touched  with  the  warm  hues  of  love  and  distraction,  closed  at  the  bars 
of  her  prison-grate — a  sad  example  of  a  female  victim  to  the  State. 

"Through  one  dim  lattice,  fring'd  with  ivy  round, 
Successive  suns  a  languid  radiance  tlirew, 
To  paint  how  fierce  her  angry  guardian  frown'd, 
To  mark  how  fast  her  wanuig  beauty  flew." 

The  Lady  Arabella  died  in  161,?;,  and  was  buried  in  the  north  aisle 
of  the  Chapel  of  }Ienry  VIL,  in  Westminster  Abbey.  Tiie  position  is 
thus  described  by  Cunningham:  "  Alabaster  cradle,  with  the  efligy  of 
Sophia,  daughter  of  James  L,  who  died  wlicii  only  three  days  old; 
King  James  L  and  Anne  of  Denmark,  Henry  Prince  of  Wales,  the 
Queen  of  Bohemia,  and  Arabella  Stuart  are  binied  beneath." 

Seymour,  who  was  afterwards  permitted  to  rctimi,  distinguished 
hims<lf  by  his  loyalty  through  three  successive  reigns,  and  retained  his 
rumantic  pass:  Jti  for  the  lady  uf  his  first  alicctions  \  for  he  called  tlie 


I 


Neivcastle  House,  and  its  Eccentric  Duchess.       105 

daughter  he  had  by  his  second   lady  by  the  ever-beloved   name  ot 
Arabella  Stuart.* 


Newcastle  House,  and  its  Eccentric  Duchess. 

In  Clerkenwell  Close,  upon  the  ruins  of  the  once  magnificent  nunnery 
of  St.  Mary,  which,  at  the  Dissolution,  became  the  property  of  the 
Cavendish  family,  was  built  the  suburban  residence  of  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle.  Clerkenwell  was  then  a  sort  of  Court  quarter  of  the  town, 
and  the  most  distinguished  residents  in  this  mansion  were  William 
Cavendish,  Duke  of  Newcastle,  and  his  wife,  Margaret  Lucas,  both  of 
whom  are  remembered  by  their  literary  eccentricities.  The  Duke,  who 
was  a  devoted  Royalist,  after  the  defeat  at  Marston  Moor,  which  was 
fought  against  the  Duke's  consent,  through  the  precipitancy  of  Prince 
Rupert,  quitted  the  King's  service  in  disgust,  and  retired  with  his  wife 
to  the  Continent ;  and  with  many  privations,  owing  to  pecuniary  em- 
barrassments, suffered  an  exile  of  eighteen  years,  chiefly  in  Antwerp,  in 
a  house  which  belonged  to  the  widow  of  Rubens.  Such  was  their  ex- 
tremity that  the  Duke  and  Duchess  were  both  forced  at  one  time  to 
pawn  their  clothes  to  purchase  a  dinner.  The  Duke  beguiled  his  time 
by  writing  an  eccentric  book  upon  Horsemanship.  During  his  absence 
from  England,  Cromwell's  parliament  levied  upon  his  estate  nearly 
three-quarters  of  a  million  of  money.  Upon  the  Restoration  he  re- 
turned to  England,  and  was  created  Duke  of  Newcastle  ;  he  then  retired 
to  his  mansion  in  Clerkenwell ;  he  died  there  in  1676,  aged  eighty-four. 

The  Duchess  was  a  pedantic  and  voluminous  writer,  her  collected 
works  filling  ten  printed  folios,  for  she  wrote  prose  and  verse  in  all  their 
varieties.  "  The  whole  story,"  writes  Pepys,  "  of  this  lady  is  a  romance, 
and  all  she  does  is  romantic.  April  26th,  1667. — Met  my  Lady  New- 
castle, with  her  coach  and  footmen  all  in  velvet,  herself,  whom  I  never 
saw  before,  as  I  have  heard  her  often  described,  for  all  the  town  talk  is 
now-a-days  of  her  extravagances,  with  her  velvet  cap,  her  hair  about 
her  ears,  many  black  patches  because  of  pimples  about  her  mouth, 
naked-necked  without  anything  about  it,  and  a  black  just-au-corps. 
May  ist,  1667. — She  was  in  a  black  coach,  adorned  w-ith  silver  instead 
of  gold,  and  snow-white  curtains,  and  everything  black  and  white. 
Stayed  at  home  reading  the  ridiculous  history  of  my  Lord  Newcastle, 
wrote  by  his  wife,  which  shows  her  to  be  a  mad,  conceited,  ridiculous 
woman,  and  he  an  asse  to  suffer  her  to  write  what  she  writes  to  him  and 
of  him."     On  the  10th  of  April,  1667,  King  Charles  and  his  Queen 

•  Abridged  from  D' Israeli's  Curiosities  of  Literature ;  with  interpolations. 


1 04      Newcastle  House,  and  its  Eccentric  Duchess, 

came  to  Clerkenwell,  on  a  visit  to  the  duchess.  On  the  i8th  John 
Evelyn  went  to  make  court  to  the  noble  pair,  who  received  him  with 
gi-eat  kindness.  Another  time,  he  dined  at  Newcastle  House,  and  was 
privileged  to  sit  discoursing  with  her  Grace  in  her  bedchamber. 
The  Duchess  thus  describes  to  a  friend  her  literary  employments: — • 
"  You  will  find  my  works  like  infinite  nature,  that  hath  neither  begin- 
ning nor  end,  and  as  confused  as  the  chaos,  wherein  is  neither  method 
nor  order,  but  all  mixed  together,  without  separation,  like  light  and 
darkness."  "  But  what  gives  one,"  says  Walpole,  "  the  best  idea  of  her 
passion  for  scribbling,  was  her  seldom  revising  the  copies  of  her  works, 
lest  it  should  disturb  her  following  conceptions.  Her  servant  John  was 
ordered  to  lie  on  a  truckle-bed  in  a  closet  within  her  grace's  bed- 
chamber ;  and  whenever,  at  any  time,  she  gave  the  summons,  by  calling 
out  '  John,'  I  conceive  poor  John  was  to  get  up,  and  commit  to  writing 
the  offspring  of  his  mistress'  thoughts.  Her  grace's  folios  were  usually 
enriched  with  gold,  and  had  her  coat-of-arms  upon  them." 

In  her  Poems  atid  Fancies,  1653,  the  copy  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  on  the  margin  of  one  page  is  the  following  note  in  the 
Duchess'  own  handwriting : — "  Reader,  let  me  intreat  you  to  consider 
only  the  fancyes  in  this  my  book  of  poems,  and  not  the  language  of  the 
numbers,  nor  rimes,  nor  fals  printing,  for  if  you  doe,  you  will  be  my 
condeming  judg,  which  will  grive  me  much."    Of  this  book  she  says: 

"When  I  did  write  this  book  I  took  great  paines, 
For  I  did  walk,  and  thinke,  and  break  my  braines ; 
My  thoughts  run  out  of  breath,  then  down  woukl  lye, 
And  panting  with  short  wind  like  those  tliat  dye; 
Wiien  time  had  given  ease,  and  lent  them  strength, 
Then  up  would  got  and  run  another  length  ; 
Sometimes  I  kept  my  thought  with  strict  dyet, 
And  made  them  fast  with  ease,  rest,  and  quiet, 
liiat  they  might  run  with  swifter  speed, 
And  by  this  course  new  fancies  they  could  breed ; 
But  I  doe  fearc  they  are  no  so  good  to  please,     . 
But  now  they're  out  my  brain  is  more  at  ease." 

Among  the  epigrammatic  oddities  of  this  work  is  the  following:— 

"The  brain  is  like  an  oven,  hot  and  dry, 
Wliich  bakes  all  sorts  of  fancies,  low  and  high  ; 
The  thoughts  are  wood,  which  motion  sets  on  fire; 
The  tongue  a  peel,  which  draws  forth  the  desire; 
But  thinking  nuich,  the  brain  too  hot  will  grow, 
And  burns  it  up;  if  cold,  the  thoughts  arc  dough." 

There  is  a  story  current  that  the  Duke  being  once,  when  in  a  peevish 
humour,  complimented  by  a  friend  on  the  great  wisdom  of  his  wife, 
made  answer,  "  Sir,  a  very  wise  woman  is  a  very  fooliah  thing."  She 
died  in  1676,  and  lies  buried  with  her  husband  in  Westminster  Abbey, 


Nnvcastle  House,  and  its  Eccentric  Duchess.      105 

beneath  a  handsome  monumental  tomb,  having  upon  it  their  recumbent 
effigies. 

Another  ecc^^ntrlc  inhabitant  of  Newcastle  House  was  the  eldest 
daughter  of  William,  Duke  of  Newcastle, — Elizabeth,  Duchess  of 
Albemarle,  "the  mad  Duchess,"  who  was  married  in  the  year  1669, 
to  Christopher  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle  (son  of  the  famous  General 
Monk),  then  only  a  youth  of  sixteen,  whom  the  Duchess'  excessive 
pride  drove  to  the  bottle,  which  brought  his  life  prematurely  to  an  end. 
At  his  decease,  this  capricious  woman,  whose  vast  estatesso  inflated  her 
vanity  as  to  produce  mental  aberration,  resolved  never  again  to  give  her 
hand  to  any  but  a  sovereign  prince.  She  had  many  suitors,  but  she 
finnly  rejected  them  all  until  Ralph,  first  Duke  of  Montague,  achieved 
a  conquest  by  courting  her  as  the  Emperor  of  China  •  and  the  anecdote 
has  been  dramatized  by  Colley  Gibber,  in  his  comedy  of  The  Double 
Gallant,  or  Sick  Ladj's  Cure.  Lord  Montague  married  the  lady  as 
Emperor,  and  shared  her  wealth,  but  not  her  affections ;  for  he  after- 
wards kept  her  in  strict  confinement  at  Montague  House,  and  only  by 
compulsion  of  the  law  did  he  produce  her  in  open  court  to  satisfy  her 
relatives  that  she  was  alive ;  she  was,  at  length,  found  to  be  a  lunatic. 
Richard  Lord  Ros,  one  of  her  rejected  suitors,  addressed  to  Lord 
Montague  these  lines  on  his  match : — 

"  Insulting  rival,  never  boast 
'I'liy  conquest  lately  won  : 
No  wonder  that  her  heart  was  lost, — 
Her  senses  first  were  gone. 

From  one  that's  under  Bedlam's  laws 

W'hat  glory  can  be  had  ? 
For  love  of  thee  was  not  the  cause : 

It  proves  that  she  was  mad." 

The  Duchess  survived  her  second  husband  nearly  thirty  years,  and  at 
last  "  died  of  mere  old  age,"  at  Newcastle  House,  August  28th,  1738, 
aged  ninety-six  years.  Until  her  decease,  she  is  said  to  have  been  con- 
stantly served  on  the  knee  as  a  sovereign.  Lord  Montague's  wooing  of 
her  is  thought  to  have  been  dramatized  by  another  author  besides 
Gibber.  "  In  Burnaby's  comedy  of  The  Lady's  Visiting  Day,  are  the 
characters  of  Courtine,  a  gallant  lover,  and  Lady  Lovetoy,  who  would 
marry  only  a  prince.  Courtine  wins  her  as  Prince  Alexander  of  Muscovy. 
At  the  first  performance  of  the  piece  the  audience  laughed  as  they  re- 
cognised therein  the  incident  of  the  merry  Lord  Montague  wooing  the 
mad  Duchess  Dowager  of  Albemai-le."* 


•  Doran's  Their  Majesties'  Servants,  vol.  i.  p.  258. 


io6 


The  Field  of  Forty  Footsteps. 

Long  Fields,  in  the  rear  of  Montague  House,  appear  to  have  been  a 
place  of  superstitious  haunt.  Aubrey  tells  us  that  on  St.  John 
Baptist's  Day,  he  saw,  "  at  midnight,  twenty-three  young  women  in 
the  parterre  behind  Montague  House,  looking  for  a  coal  under  the 
root  of  a  plantam,  to  put  under  their  heads  that  night,  and  they  should 
dream  who  would  be  their  husbands."  But  there  is  a  more  teirible 
story  of  the  place.  A  legendary  tale  of  the  period  of  the  Duke  of 
Monmouth's  Rebellion  relates  a  mortal  conflict  here  between  two 
brothers,  on  account  of  a  lady,  who  sat  by ;  the  combatants  fought  so 
ferociously  as  to  destroy  each  other ;  after  which,  their  footsteps,  im- 
printed on  the  ground  in  the  vengeful  struggle,  were  said  to  remain, 
with  the  indentations  produced  by  their  advancii  ig  and  receding ;  nor 
would  any  grass  or  vegetation  ever  grow  over  these  forty  footsteps. 
Miss  Porter  and  her  sister,  upon  this  fiction,  founded  their  ingenious 
romance.  Coming  Out,  or  the  Field  of  Forty  Footsteps  ;  but  they  entirely 
depart  from  the  local  tradition.  At  the  Tottenham-street  Theatre  was 
produced,  many  yeai's  since,  an  effective  melodrama,  founded  upon  the 
same  incident. 

Southey  relates  the  same  story,  in  his  Commonplace  Book,  (Second 
Series,  p.  21.)  After  quoting  a  letter  from  a  friend,  recommending  him 
to  "  take  a  view  of  those  wonderful  marks  of  the  Lord's  hatred  to 
duelling,  called  The  Brothers'  Steps,"  and  describing  the  locality,  Soutiiey 
thus  narrates  his  own  visit  to  the  spot :  "  We  sought  for  near  half  an 
hour  in  vain.  We  could  find  no  steps  at  all  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile,  no,  nor  half  a  mile,  of  Montague  House.  We  were  almost  out 
of  hope,  when  an  honest  man,  who  was  at  work,  directed  us  to  the 
next  ground,  adjoining  to  a  pond.  There  we  found  what  we  sought. 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  north  of  Montague  House,  and  500 
yards  east  of  Tottenham  Court  Road.  The  steps  are  of  the  size  of  a 
large  human  foot,  about  three  inches  deep,  and  lie  nearly  from  north- 
east to  south-west.  We  counted  only  seventy-six  ;  but  we  were  not 
exact  in  counting.  The  place  where  one  or  both  the  brothers  arc  sup- 
IX)sed  to  have  fallen,  is  still  bare  of  grass.  The  labourer  also  showed 
us  the  bank  where  (the  tradition  is)  the  wretched  woman  sat  to  see  the 
combat."  Southey  adds  his  full  confidence  in  the  tradition  of  the  in- 
datructibility  of  the  steps,  even  after  ploughing  up,  and  of  the  conclu- 
•ioM  to  be  drawn  from  the  circumstance. 

J(Mq;>b  Moaer,  in  one  of  bis  Commonplace  Books,  gives  tliis  account  of 


Stories  of  Temple  Bar.  107 

^t  footsteps, yw.%\.  previous  to  their  being  built  over: — "June  16,  1800. 
Went  into  the  fields  at  the  back  of  Montague  House,  and  there  saw, 
for  the  last  time,  the  forty  footsteps ;  the  building  materials  are  there, 
ready  to  cover  them  from  the  sight  of  man.  I  counted  more  than 
forty,  but  they  might  be  the  footprints  of  the  workmen." 

We  agree  with  Dr.  Rimbault  that  this  evidence  establishes  the  period 
of  the  final  demolition  of  the  footsteps,  and  also  confirms  the  legend  that 
forty  was  the  original  number. 

In  the  third  edition  of  j4  Book  for  a  Rainy  Day  we  find  this  note  upon 
the  above  mysterious  spot : — "  Of  these  steps  there  are  many  traditionary 
stories :  the  one  generally  believed  is,  that  two  brothers  were  in  love 
with  a  lady,  who  would  not  declare  a  preference  for  either,  but  coolly 
sat  down  upon  a  bank  to  witness  the  termination  of  a  duel,  which 
proved  fatal  to  both.  The  bank,  it  is  said,  on  which  she  sat,  and  the 
footmarks  of  the  brothers  when  passing  the  ground,  never  produced 
grass  again.  The  fact  is,  that  these  steps  were  so  often  trodden  that 
it  was  impossible  for  the  grass  to  grow.  I  have  frequently  passed  over 
them :  they  were  in  a  field  on  the  site  of  St.  Martin's  Chapel,  or  very 
nearly  so,  and  not  on  the  spot  as  communicated  to  Miss  Porter,  who  ha« 
written  an  entertaining  novel  on  the  subject." 


Stories  of  Temple  Bar. 

vVe  find  the  earliest  mention  of  a  Bar  in  this  locality  in  Stew's 
account  of  the  pageant  prepared  to  welcome  Anne  Boleyn,  in  her  pro- 
cession from  the  Tower  to  Westminster,  on  Saturday,  May  3r,  1534. 
On  the  following  day  (Sunday),  her  coronation  took  place.  Temple 
Bar  had  been  newly  painted  and  repaired  for  the  occasion,  and  there 
stood  singing  men  and  children.  Next,  at  the  coronation  of  the  youtiiful 
Edward  VI.,  February  19,  1546-7,  the  gate  was  painted  and  fashioned 
with  battlements  and  buttresses  of  various  colours,  richly  hung  with 
cloth  of  arras,  and  garnished  with  fourteen  standard  of  flags ;  there 
were  also  eight  French  trumpeters,  blowing  their  trumpets,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  country,  and  a  pair  of  regals  with  children  singing  to  the 
•ame.  Mary  Tudor,  Edward's  half-sister,  succeeded  him  ;  and  in  accor- 
lilance  with  ancient  custom,  on  September  27,  1553,  the  day  prior  to  her 
coronation,  she  rode  through  the  city,  not  as  her  predecessor  had  done, 
on  horseback,  but  in  a  chariot  of  cloth  of  tissue,  drawn  by  horses  trapped 
with  the  same ;  and  Temple  Bar  was  then  "  newly  painted  and  hanged." 

This  separation  of  Westminster  from  the  liberty  or  freedom  of  the 


lo8  Stories  of  Tempte  Bar. 

City  was  anciently  only  posts,  rails,  and  a  chain,  such  as  were  at  Hol- 
bom,  Smithfield,  and  Whitechapel  Bars.  Afterwards  a  house  of  timber 
was  erected  across  the  street,  with  a  narrow  gateway,  and  an  entry,  on 
tlie  south  side  of  it,  under  the  house.  This  timber  gateway  is  shown  in 
Hollar's  seven-sheet  Map  of  London  ;  and  it  is  also  shown  in  a  bird's- 
eye  View  of  London  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  1601. 

The  first  entry  in  the  City  records  of  any  matter  connected  with  the 
Bar  is  as  follows:  "  1554,  i  and  2  Phil,  and  Mary.  Mr.  Chamberlain 
shall  commit  the  custody  of  the  new  gates  at  Temple  Bar  to  the  Cittie's 
tenants,  dwelling  nigh  unto  the  said  gates ;  taking,  nevertheless,  especial 
order  with  them  for  the  shutting  and  opening  the  same  gates  at  con- 
venient hours."  Sir  Thomas  Wyat  and  his  followers  had,  probably,  a 
tew  months  previously,  in  his  ill-contrived  rebellion,  destroyed,  or  st) 
damaged  the  old  gates  in  forcing  his  way  into  the  City,  that  the  civic 
authorities  were  compelled  to  erect  new  ones,  the  care  of  which  devolved 
on  such  of  the  City's  tenants  as  were  living  adjacent  to  them. 

The  City  had  often  been  pressed  to  rebuild  the  Bar,  and  had  been 
offered  by  the  Commissioners  of  Sewers  1005/.  towards  the  cost,  which, 
however,  they  considered  inadequate.  Thereupon,  the  King  sent  for  the 
Lord  Mayor,  when  "  the  Citty's  weak  state  of  inability,"  on  account  of 
the  great  expense  of  the  rebuilding  public  works  consumed  in  the  Great 
Fire,  was  pleaded  ;  but  the  King  insisted  on  the  Bar  being  taken  down, 
and  he  promised,  if  the  100,1^/.  proved  insufficient,  to  supply  other  funds 
to  complete  the  work.  The  destruction  was  accordingly  commenced 
in  1670,  and  the  present  Bar,  arter  the  designs  of  Wren,  was  erected ; 
but  the  royal  promise  was  not  performed.  The  Bar  is  of  Portland 
stone,  with  statues  of  Charles  \.  and  II.,  and  James  I.  and  his  cjueen, 
Anne  of  Denmark,  by  John  Bushnell ;  the  interior  is  an  apartment,  held 
by  Messrs.  Child,  the  bankers,  as  a  depository  for  their  account  books. 

We  now  come  to  the  criminal  records  of  the  liar.  Upon  the  centre 
of  the  pediment,  on  iron  spikes,  were  fonncrly  placed  the  head  and 
limbs  of  persona  executed  for  treason.  The  first  of  these  revolting  dis- 
plays was  one  of  the  quarters  of  Sir  Thomas  Armstrong,  implicated  in 
the  Rye  House  Plot.  He  was  arrested  at  Lcyden,  and  for  a  present  ot 
al)out  500/.  was  delivered  to  the  King's  minister,  who  placal  iiim  on 
board  a  royal  yacht,  and  sent  him  to  England.  He  neglected,  probably 
owing  to  his  confusion,  to  plead  being  a  native  of  Holland ;  which,  had 
he  done,  would  probably  iiave  insured  his  8.ifety.  He  was  sentenced 
without  trial,  but  upon  an  award  of  execution  on  the  outlawry,  by 
Chief  Justice  Jeffreys,  when  Sir  Tliomas  Armstrong  urged  that 
be  should  have  the  bcneiit  of  the  law,  "  That  you  Kliall  have,"  jccringly 


Storks  of  Temple  Bar,  109 

exclaimed  the  Chief  Justice,  "  by  the  grace  of  God  ;  see  that  execution 
be  done  on  Friday  next,  according  to  laiu ;  you  shall  have  the  full 
benefit  0/  the  laiv."  He  was  executed  at  Tyburn  ;  and  after  hanging 
half-an-hour,  he  was  cut  down,  and  pursuant  to  his  sentence,  his  heart 
and  bowels  were  taken  out,  and  committed  to  the  flames ;  his  body 
divided  into  four  parts,  which,  with  his  head,  were  conveyed  back  to 
Newgate,  and  then  set  up  on  Westminster  Hall,  between  those  of 
Cromwell  and  Bradshaw;  one  of  the  quarters  upon  Temple  Bar,  two 
others  on  Aldersgate  and  Aldgate;  the  fourth  was  sent  to  Stafford, 
which  borough  he  had  represented  in  Parliament.  Shortly  after  this 
event,  when  Jeffreys  had  an  inter\'iew  with  the  King  at  Windsor, 
Charles  took  from  his  finger  a  diamond  ring  of  great  value,  and  gave 
it  to  him  ;  this  ring  was  ever  after  called  "  the  blood-stone." 

Next,  the  quarters  of  Sir  William  Perkins  and  Sir  John  Friend,  to- 
gether with  the  head  of  the  former,  were  placed  on  the  Bar.  They  had 
conspired  to  assassinate  William  HI. 

"  The  head  of  Sir  John  Friend  was  set  up  on  Aldgate,  on  account, 
it  is  presumed,  of  that  gate  being  in  the  proximity  of  his  brewery, 
which,  after  the  death  of  Friend,  was  taken  by  the  notorious  swindler 
Joseph  Crook,  alias  Sir  Peter  Stranger,  Bart.  He  was  the  last  person 
tried  and  convicted  under  the  stitute  of  the  5th  Elizabeth,  c.  14, 
entitled  '  An  Act  against  Forgers  of  false  Deeds  and  Writings.'  The 
instrument  he  had  forged  was  the  will  of  a  Mr.  Thomas  Hawkins, 
and  having  been  found  guilty,  the  sentence  provided  by  the  statute 
was  carried  into  effect.  On  June  10,  1731,  he  stood  in  the  pillory  at 
Charing  Cross,  and  the  common  hangman  cut  off  his  ears,  and  slit  up 
his  nostrils  and  seared  them ;  he  was  then  in  his  seventieth  year. 
The  2nd  George  H.  c.  25,  recently  passed,  made  this  offence  felony; 
and  Richard  Cooper,  a  victualler  at  Stepney,  was  the  first  person  in 
London  to  suffer  the  new  penalty,  for  the  forgery  of  a  bond  of  2.-/.  in 
the  name  of  Holme,  a  grocer  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Hanover-square. 
This  execution  took  place  at  Tyburn,  on  Wednesday,  June  16,  17,^1." 
(From  Temple  Bar,  the  City  Golgotha,  by  a  Member  of  the  Inner 
Temple,  1 853 ;  an  authentic  and  very  interesting  brochure.') 

Next,  Colonel  Henry  Oxburgh,  in  the  Pretender's  army,  was,  on 
May  9th,  1 7 15,  found  guilty  of  high  treason,  and  on  the  14th  of  the 
same  month  executed  at  Tyburn  ;  his  body  was  buried  in  the  church- 
yard of  St.  Giles's-in-thc-Fields,  and  his  head  placed  upon  Temple 
Bar ;  "  which,"  says  a  writer  of  the  day,  "  we  choose  to  mention,  that 
the  rebels  may  place  it  among  their  other  saints'  days." 

Counsellor  Layer,  who  had  conspired  to  assassinate  King  William  on 


I  lo  Stories  of  Temple  Bar, 

his  return  from  Kensington,  was  the  next  victim ;  after  sixteen  hours,  ha 
was  found  guilty.  Seven  months  after,  he  was  conducted  from  the 
Tower  to  Tyburn,  seated  in  a  sledge,  habited  in  a  full-dress  suit  and 
a  tie-wig.  The  streets  were  never  more  crowded  than  on  this  occasion, 
and  many  fatal  accidents  occurred  from  the  breaking  down  of  the  stands 
erected  to  accommodate  the  spectators.  The  day  subsequent  to  Layer's 
execution,  his  head  was  placed  on  Temple  Bar ;  there  it  lemained, 
blackened  and  weather-beaten  with  the  storms  of  many  successive 
years,  until  it  became  its  oldest  occupant ;  it  repulsively  looked  down 
from  the  summit  of  the  arch  ;  it  seemed  part  of  the  arch  itself.  For 
upwards  of  thirty  years  the  head  remained,  when  one  stormy  night  it  was 
blown  from  its  long  resting-place  into  the  Strand.  It  was  picked  up  by 
a  gentleman  in  the  neighbourhood,  Mr.  John  Pearce,  an  attorney,  who 
showed  it  to  some  persons  at  a  public-house,  under  the  floor  of  which 
it  was  buried.  Dr.  Rawlinson,  the  antiquary,  having  made  inquiries 
after  the  head,  wishing  to  purchase  it,  was  imposed  upon  with  another 
instead  of  Layer's,  which  he  preserved  as  a  relic,  and  directed  to  be 
buried  in  his  right  hand,  and  this  request  was  complied  with. 

The  heads  last  set  up  here  were  those  of  Townley  and  Fletcher,  the 
rebels,  in  1746.  Walpole  writes,  August  16,  1746:  "  I  have  been  this 
morning  at  the  Tower,  and  passed  under  the  new  heads  at  Temple  Bar, 
where  people  make  a  trade  of  letting  spying-glasses  at  a  halfpenny  a 
look ;"  and,  in  1825,  a  person,  aged  eighty-seven,  remembered  the  above 
heads  being  seen  with  a  telescope  from  Leicester-fields,  the  ground  be- 
tween which  and  Temple  Bar  being  then  thinly  built  over.  These  two 
grim  tenants  of  the  Bar  remained  until  the  31st  of  March,  1772,  when 
one  of  them  fell  down ;  and  very  shortly  afterwards,  during  a  high 
wind,  the  remaining  head  was  swept  away  from  its  position,  and  Temple 
Bar  was  left  untenantotl ;  but  the  last  of  the  iron  poles  was  not  re- 
moved from  the  Bar  until  the  commencement  of  the  present  century. 
Mrs.  Black,  the  wife  of  the  learned  editor  of  the  Morning  Chronicle 
newspaper,  had  seen,  when  a  girl,  human  heads  fixed  on  spikes  on 
Temple  Bar.  Mr.  Peter  Cunningham  used  to  relate  her  account  of 
this  strange  sight,  as  told  to  him  and  his  brother.  "  She  took  us  aside, 
and  said,  '  Don't  ask  me,  boys.  Why  do  you  ask  me  ?*  We  then  told 
her,  and  told  her  all.  (Mrs.  Black  could  not  bear  being  thought  old.) 
She  said,  collectedly,  and  as  usual  with  her,  without  any  parade  of  tell- 
ing ihc  Hiory  she  had  to  relate,  '  ]Joy8,  I  remember  the  scene  well !  I 
have  seen  on  that  Temple  Bar,  about  which  you  ask,  two  human  liends 
—men's  heads — traitors'  heads — spiked  on  iron  poles.  There  were  two. 
I  taw  one  fall.    Women  shrieked  as  it  fell :  men,  I  have  heard,  shrieked} 


Stories  of  Temple  Bar.  1 1 1 

one  woman  n^ar  me,  fainted.  Yes,  I  recollect  seeing  human  heads  on 
Temple  Bar.' "  Another  person  who  remembered  to  have  seen  the 
spiked  heads  was  Samuel  Rogers,  the  banker  poet,  who  died  in  Decem- 
ber, 1855,  at  the  age  of  ninety-three.  "  I  remember  well,"  (he  said,)  "  one 
of  the  heads  of  the  rebels  upon  a  pole  at  Temple  Bar — a  black  shape- 
less lump.     Another  pole  was  bare,  the  head  having  dropped  from  it." 

We  find  in  the  Annual  Register  for  1766,  the  following  strange  anec- 
dote connected  with  the  heads.  "  This  morning  (Jan.  20th),  between 
two  and  three  o'clock,  a  person  was  observed  to  watch  his  opportunity 
of  discharging  musket-balls,  from  a  steel  cross-bow,  at  the  two  remain- 
ing heads  upon  Temple  Bar.  On  his  examination  he  affected  a  disorder 
cf  his  senses,  and  said  his  reason  for  so  doing  was  his  strong  attachment 
to  the  present  Government,  and  that  he  thought  it  was  not  sufficient 
that  a  ti-aitor  should  only  suffer  death,  and  that  this  provoked  his  indig- 
nation ;  and  that  it  had  been  his  constant  practice,  for  three  nights  past, 
to  amuse  himself  in  the  same  manner ;  but  it  is  much  to  be  feared  that 
he  is  a  near  relation  to  one  of  the  unhappy  sufferers."  The  account 
given  in  the  Gentleman  j  Magazine  further  states,  *'  Upon  searching  liim, 
above  fifty  musket-balls  were  found  wrapped  in  paper,  with  this  motto, 
Eriptiit  ille  'vitam." 

The  gate  was  originally  shut  at  night  and  guarded  by  watchmen ; 
and,  in  our  time,  it  has  been  closed  in  cases  of  apprehended  tumulL 
Upon  the  visit  of  the  Sovereign  to  the  City,  or  upon  the  proclamation 
of  a  new  Sovereign,  or  of  Peace,  it  was  formerly  customary  to  keep  the 
gate  closed  until  admission  was  formally  demanded ;  the  gate  was  then 
opened ;  and  upon  the  royal  visit  the  Lord  Mayor  surrendered  the  city 
sword  to  the  Sovereign,  who  re-delivered  it  to  the  Mayor. 

At  the  old  Bar,  when  Queen  Elizabeth  went  to  St.  Paul's  to  return 
thanks  for  the  defeat  of  the  Armada,  the  Lord  Mayor  delivered  to  her 
hands  the  sceptre  (sword),  which  her  highness  re-delivered  to  the 
Mayor;  and  he,  again  taking  his  horse,  bore  the  same  before  her. 
When  Cromwell  and  the  Parliament  dined  in  the  City  in  state  oa 
June  7,  1649,  the  same  ceremony  was  observed;  the  Mayor  (say* 
VVhitelock)  delivering  up  the  sword  to  the  Speaker,  "  as  he  used  to  do 
to  the  King." 

The  gate  has  been  opened  to  receive  Charles  II.,  James  II., 
William  III.,  and  every  English  monarch  since. 

In  Baker's  Chronicle  is  thus  described  the  ceremony  on  the  Proclama- 
tion of  Charles  II.:  "At  Temple  Bar,  the  gates  being  shut,  the  Kiiig- 
at-Arms,  with  trumpets  before  him,  knocked  and  demanded  entrance. 
Thv  Lord  Mayor  appointed  some  [one]  to  ask  who  it  ivas  that  knoikid. 


112  TJie  Knights  Templars  in  London. 

The  King-at-Arms  replied,  that  if  they  'would  open  the  ivicket,  and  lei 
the  Lord  Mayor  come  thither,  he  ivould  to  him  deliver  his  tnessage.  The 
Lord  Mayor  came  then  on  horseback,  richly  habited  in  a  crimson-velvet 
gown,  to  the  gate ;  and  tlien  the  trumpets  sounded,  and,  after  silence 
being  made,  Alderman  Bateman,  by  order  of  the  Lord  Mayor,  de- 
manded of  the  herald  nvho  he  luas,  and  ivhat  nvas  his  message.  To 
which  he  answered,  with  his  hat  on,  If'e  are  the  Her ald-at- Arms,  ap- 
pointed and  commanded  by  the  Lords  and  Commons  assembled  in  Parlia- 
ment to  demand  entrance  into  the  famous  City  of  London,  to  proclaim 
Charles  the  Second  King  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland ;  and 
we  expect  your  speedy  ans^uier  to  this  demand.  To  which,  after  a  little 
consultation  among  themselves,  Alderman  Bateman  answered,  This  mes- 
sage avas  accepted,  and  the  gates  should  be  opened  immediately ;  which 
was  done  accordingly."  Sir  Richard  Baker,  it  will  be  recollected,  died 
in  1644-5,  leaving  his  Chronicle  only  brought  down  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  reign  of  Charles  I. ;  and  the  above  extract  is  from  the  con- 
tinuation by  Edward  Phillips,  nephew  of  Milton,  who  brought  down  the 
Chronicle  to  the  coronation  of  Charles  IL  ;  so  that  the  above  may  be 
the  description  of  an  eye-witness,  whereas  Baker  wrote  his  Chronicle 
in  the  Fleet  Prison.  This  was  the  last  ceremony  of  the  kind  at  the 
old  Bar. 


The  Knights  Templars  in  London. 

The  origin  and  history  of  the  celebrated  Order  of  Templars  are  too 
well  known  to  need  recapitulation  in  connexion  with  some  account  of 
their  chief  establishment  in  England,  of  which  the  famous  Round 
Church  in  the  Temple  marks  the  culminating  period  cf  the  Knight 
Templars  in  England.  In  the  year  11 28,  the  head  of  this  new  and 
strange  society,  which  had  excited  much  notice  among  the  pious  and 
warlike  of  England,  arrived  in  London  to  explain  its  objects.  He  nar- 
rated to  King  Henry  I.  and  his  Court  the  origin  and  progress  of  the 
Order, — how  he  himself  and  eight  other  Knights,  calling  themselves 
"  \)OOY  fellow-soldiers  of  Jesus  Christ,"  entered  into  a  solemn  compact 
to  devote  their  lives  and  fortunes  to  the  Christian  pilgrims  to  Jerusalim, 
by  the  defence  of  the  highway  from  the  inroads  of  the  Mussulmans,  and 
the  ravages  of  the  numerous  robbers  who  infested  it.  They  enlarged 
their  object  to  the  defence  of  the  Christian  Kingdom  of  Jcrus;ilcm  it- 
Bclf.  Hugh  de  Payens  was  made  Master,  and  set  out  from  Jerusalem 
with  four  brethren;  he  returned  after  his  visit  to  England,  with 
300,    chosen    prin'.ipally  from  the  noblest  families    of    France  aiij 


The  Knights  Templars  in  London.  113 

F.ngland.  But  Matthew  Paris  tells  us  that  they  at  first  lived  upon  alms, 
and  were  so  poor  that  one  horse  served  tivo  of  them  (Hugh  de  Payens 
and  a  companion),  as  we  see  in  their  seal ;  yet  they  suddenly  waxed  so 
insolent,  that  they  disdained  other  orders,  and  sorted  themselves  with 
noblemen.  Before  Hugh  de  Payens  left  England,  he  placed  a  Knight 
Templar,  called  the  Prior  of  the  Temple,  at  the  head  of  the  Society  in 
this  country,  to  manage  the  estates  and  affairs  of  the  Order.  Numerous 
Templar  establishments  now  sprang  up,  the  chiel  of  which  was  in 
Holborn,  where  Southampton  House  was  afterwards  erected,  and  a  hall 
of  which  existed  to  our  day,  with  traces  of  an  ancient  circular  chapel. 
As  the  English  Knights  increased  in  number  and  wealth,  they  purchased 
the  site  of  the  present  Temple,  in  the  rear  of  the  south  side  of  Fleet- 
street,  and  set  about  erecting  their  mrfgnificent  round  church,  after  the 
model  of  that  at  Jerusalem.  Meanwnile,  the  misfortunes  of  the  Tem- 
plars in  Palestine  brought  to  Europe  for  assistance  Heraclius,  the 
Patriarch,  the  Master  of  the  Temple,  and  the  Master  of  St.  John's. 
Now,  Henry  II.  promised  them  assistance,  on  receiving  absolution  for 
the  murder  of  Becket.  The  Master  of  the  Temple  died  on  the  way, 
the  other  two  reached  England  in  11 85.  King  Henry  met  them  at 
Reading ;  in  tears  he  heard  their  supplications  for  assistance,  and  pro- 
mised to  grant  it. 

The  English  Templars  brought  Heraclius  to  their  church,  and  re- 
quested him  to  consecrate  it.  To  this  he  consented,  as  recorded  in  an 
inscription ;  and  at  the  same  time  consecrated  the  church  of  the  rival 
Society  of  Hospitallers,  or  Knights  of  St.  John,  at  Clerkenwell.  Hera- 
clius's  demands  for  succour  were,  however,  evaded  by  the  King  and 
his  Parliament,  and  the  Patriarch's  mission  altogether  failed. 

The  Temple  church  is  one  of  the  four  circular  churches  in  England;  the 
other  three  existing  at  Cambridge,  Northampton,  and  Maplestead  in  Essex. 
The  architecture  is  midway  between  Romanesque  and  Early  English 
Gothic ;  the  western  entrance,  semicircular  arches  and  capitals,  are  richly 
sculptured  and  deeply  recessed ;  within,  Purbcck  marble  columns,  with 
boldly-sculptured  capitals,  support  a  gallery  or  triforium  of  interlaced 
Norman  arches ;  and  the  clerestory  has  six  Romanesque  windows,  one 
filled  with  stained  glass,  bright  ruby  ground,  with  a  representation  ot 
Christ,  and  emblems  of  the  Evangelists  ;  and  the  ceiling,  of  Saracenic 
character,  is  coloured.  On  the  gallery  well-staircase  is  a  "  penitential 
cell."  Upon  the  pavement  are  figures  of  Crusaders,  "  in  cross-legged 
elligy  devoutly  stretched,"  but  originally  placed  upon  altar-tom.bs  and 
pedestals.  These  effigies  of  feudal  warriors  are  sculptured  out  of  free- 
stone. The  attitudes  of  all  are  difierent,  but  they  are  all  recumbent 
*  I 


114  The  Knights  Templars  in  Lofidon. 

with  the  legs  crossed.  They  are  in  complete  mail  with  siircoats  ;  one 
only  is  bare-headed,  and  has  the  cowl  of  a  monk.  The  shields  are  of 
the  heater  or  Norman  shape,  but  the  size  is  not  the  same  in  all ;  one  of 
them  is  very  long,  and  reaches  from  the  shoulder  to  the  middle  of  the 
leg.  Their  heads,  with  one  exception,  repose  on  cushions,  and  have 
hoods  of  mail.  Three  of  them  have  flattish  helmets  over  the  armour, 
and  one  has  a  sort  of  casque.  The  best  authorities  assign  five  of  them 
as  follow :  to  Geoffry  de  Magnaville,  Earl  of  Essex,  a.d.  i  144,  (rightarm 
on  his  breast  and  large  sword  at  his  right) — he  is  not  mentioned  by 
Weever ;  William  Mareschall,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  a.d.  1219  (sculptured 
in  Sussex  marble,  with  his  sword  through  a  lion's  head)  ;  Robert  Lord 
de  Ros,  A.D.  1245  (head  uncovered,  with  long  flowing  hair),  whose 
effigy  is  said  to  have  been  brought  from  Helmsley  Church,  Yorkshire ; 
William  Mareschall,  jun..  Earl  of  Pembroke,  1231  (with  lion  ram- 
pant on  shield,  and  sheathing  his  sword).  Gilbert  Mareschall,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  1281  (drawing  his  sword,  winged  dragon  at  feet).  In  1841 
were  discovered  the  ancient  lead  coffins  containing  the  bodies  of  these 
knights,  who  did  not  appear  to  have  been  buried  in  their  aiTnour ;  and 
none  of  the  coffin  ornaments  were  of  earlier  date  than  the  beginning  of 
the  thirteenth  century.  The  ancient  hostels  existed  until  1346  (20th 
Edward  III.),  when  the  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem 
(to  whom  the  forfeited  estates  of  the  rival  brotherhood  of  the  Templars 
had  been  granted  by  the  Pope)  demised  the  magnificent  buildings, 
church,  gardens,  "and  aH  the  appurtenances  that  belonged  to  the 
Templars  in  London,"  to  certain  students  said  to  have  removed  thither 
from  Holbom,  in  which  part  of  the  town  the  Knights  'I'cmplars  them- 
selves had  resided  before  the  erection  of  their  palace  on  the  Thames. 

In  this  New  Temple,  "  out  of  the  City  and  the  noise  thereof,  and 
in  the  suburbs,"  between  the  King's  Court  at  Westminster  and  the 
City  of  London,  the  studious  lawyers  lived  in  quiet,  increasing  in 
number  and  importance ;  so  that  although  the  mob  of  Wat  Tyler's 
rebellion  plundered  tlie  students,  and  destroyed  almost  all  their  books 
and  records  ("To  the  Inns  of  Court  !  down  with  than  all!" — Jtick 
Cade),  it  became  necessary  to  divide  the  Inn  into  two  separate  bodies, 
the  Hon.  Societies  of  tlie  Inner  and  Middle  Temple  ;  having  separate 
halls,  but  using  the  same  church,  and  holding  their  houses  as  tenants  of 
the  Knights  Hospitallers  until  the  dissolution  by  Henry  VIII.,  and 
thenceforth  of  the  Crown  by  lease.  This  was  done  in  the  sixth  year  of 
James  I. ;  and  the  two  Temples  were  granted  as  the  Inner  and  Middle. 
Thus,  for  nearly  five  centuries,  some  of  tlie  leading  practisers  of  the 
law  have  been  Mttlcd  upon  the  spot  where  the    lawless  Knights 


The  Knights  Templars  in  London.  115 

Templars  long  held  sway.  The  circular  church  and  its  appurte- 
nances, were  then  leased  for  an  annual  fee-farm  rent  of  10/.  to  the 
students.  The  preacher  is  styled  Master  of  the  Temple,  as  was 
the  lord  paramount  of  the  Templars:  the  early  lawyers  had  their 
pillars  in  the  church  and  cloisters — a  falling  off  from  their  spiritual  pre- 
decessors ;  and  the  Middle  Temple  still  bears  the  arms  of  the  Knights 
Templars — Arg.  on  a  cross  gu.,  a  paschal  lamb  or,  carrying  a  banner 
of  the  first,  charged  with  a  cross  of  the  second,  such  as  we  see  in 
university  towns  lowered  to  the  Lamb  and  Flag  public-house  sign ; 
whilst  Pegasus  salient  of  the  Inner  Temple  long  enjoyed  a  similar  dis- 
tinction in  becoming  a  popular  London  sign.  This  winged  horse,  with 
the  motto  "  Volat  ad  aethera  virtus,"  was  substituted  by  the  Inner 
Temple  for  the  Holy  Lamb  early  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  There 
has  been  much  amusing  speculation  upon  the  cause  of  the  change :  it 
is  thought  to  have  been  intended  to  signify — in  allusion  to  the  fable  of 
Pegasus  forming  the  fountain  of  Hippocrene  by  striking  the  rock — that 
the  lawyers  aspired  to  become  poets.  In  tlie  Temple  Round,  lawyers 
received  clients  as  merchants  on  'Change : — 

"  Retain  all  sorts  of  witnesses, 
That  ply  i'  the  Temple  under  trees ; 
Or  walk  the  Round  with  Knights  o'  the  Posts, 
About  the  cross-legg'd  knights,  their  hosts." 

Hudibras,  pt.  iii.  c.  3. 

Dugdale  says :  "  Item,  they  (the  lawyers)  have  no  place  to  walk  in  and 
confer  their  learnings  but  tht  church;  which  place  all  the  term-times 
hath  in  it  no  more  quietness  than  the  Pervise  of  Paules,  by  occasion  of 
the  conlluence  and  concourse  of  such  as  are  suitors  in  the  law."  "  The 
Round"  is  the  nave  or  vestibule  to  the  oblong  portion  of  the  church, 
the  Choir,  in  pure  Lancet  style,  and  almost  rebuilt  in  our  time.  It  is 
divided  into  three  aisles,  by  clustered  marble  columns,  the  groined 
roof  being  richly  coloured  in  arabesque,  and  ornamented  with  holy 
emblems:  while  triple  lancet-headed  windows  let  in  floods  of  light. 

It  is  mentioned  in  Dugdale's  Monasticon  that  both  King  Henry  II. 
and  his  Queen  Eleanor  directed  that  their  bodies  should  be  interred 
within  the  walls  of  the  Temple  Church,  and  that  the  above  monarch  by 
his  Will  left  500  marks  for  that  purpose.  The  walls  are  inscribed  with 
Scripture  texts  in  Latin ;  and  between  the  top  of  the  stalls  and  the 
string-course  beneath  the  windows,  is  the  Hymn  of  St.  Ambrose.  The 
windows,  by  Willement,  are  among  the  finest  specimens  of  modem 
stained  glass :  the  altar  subjects  are  from  the  life  of  Christ,  the  inter- 
spaces being    deep-blue    and  ruby  mosaic,  with  glittering    borders. 


Ii6  The  Knights  Templars  in  London. 

Knights  Templar  fill  the  aisle  windows ;  but  that  opposite  the  organ 
has  figures  of  angels  playing  musical  instruments. 

'  A  brief  history  of  the  Templars  in  England  and  of  this  church  may 
be  read  in  the  rude  eflfigies  of  the  successive  kings  during  whose  reigns 
they  flourished,  now  painted  on  the  west  end  of  the  chancel.  At  the 
south  comer  sits  Henry  I.,  holding  the  first  banner  of  the  Crusaders, 
half  black,  half  white,  entitled  "  Beauseant ;"  white  typifying  fairness 
towaids  friends ;  black,  terror  to  foes.  This  banner  was  changed 
during  the  reign  of  Stephen  for  the  red  cross : 

"  And  on  his  brest  a  bloodie  crosse  he  bore, 
The  deare  remembrance  of  his  dying  Lord." 

Henr}'  II.  and  the  Round  Church  are  represented  by  the  third  figure. 
Richard  I.  with  the  sword  which  he  wielded  as  Crusader,  and  John,  his 
brother,  are  the  next  kings;  and  in  the  north  aisle  is  portrayed 
Henry  III.,  holding  the  two  churches;  the  chancel,  or  square  part, 
having  been  added  in  his  reign,  and  consecrated  on  Ascension-day, 
1240. 

Among  the  rules  for  the  government  of  the  Order  of  Templars  was 
that  of  obedience,  for  breach  of  which  was  the  penitential  cell,  already 
mentioned ;  it  was  formed  in  the  wall  of  the  church,  and  measured  only 
four  and  a  half  feet  in  length,  and  two  and  a  half  in  breadth,  so  that  the 
unhappy  prisoner  could  not  lie  down,  except  by  drawing  his  limbs  to- 
gether. Others  were  fettered  by  order  of  the  Master,  and  left  till  they 
died  by  severity  of  the  punishment.  Besides  imprisonment,  they  were 
scourged  on  the  bare  shoulders  by  the  Master's  hands  in  the  hall,  or 
whipped  in  the  church  on  Sundays  before  the  congregation.  The  Order 
became  highly  popular  for  their  piety,  bravery,  and  humility,  and  great 
men  desired  to  be  buried  among  them.  This  was  insured  by  lands, 
manors,  and  privileges,  and  sometimes  money.  King  John  deposited 
himself  in  the  community,  and  numerous  documents  of  this  King's  are 
dated  from  the  Temple.  Martin,  the  Pope's  nuncio,  made  unheard-of 
extortions  of  money  and  valuables.  The  abbots  and  priors  were  told 
that  they  must  send  him  rich  presents,  desirable  palfreys,  sumptuous 
8ci-viccs  for  the  table,  and  rich  clothing.  The  treasure  deposited  in  the 
Temple  must  often  have  been  immense,  and  here  were  brought  all  the 
moneys  collcctetl  for  the  Christian  service  in  Palestine.  The  great  Earl 
ot  Kait,  Hubert  de  Burgh,  on  his  disgrace  and  committal  to  the  Tower, 
was  suspected  by  the  King  to  have  no  small  amount  of  treasure  de- 
pofiitcd  in  the  Temple;  the  King  demanded  of  tlie  Master  of  the  Temple, 
tf  It  was  so;  wlicQ  he  confessed  that  he  had  money  of  the  said  Hubert, 


The  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John.  1 17 

adding  that  he  could  not  give  it  up  without  the  consent  of  the  owner. 
Then  the  King  sent  the  Treasurer  of  his  court,  with  his  Justices  of  the 
Exchequer,  to  Hubert,  who  was  in  fetters  in  the  Tower,  that  they  might 
exact  from  him  an  assignment  of  the  entire  sum  to  the  King.  Hubert 
submitted,  and  sent  to  the  King  the  keys  of  his  treasure  in  the  Temple, 
which  the  King  ordered  to  be  counted,  and  placed  in  his  treasury,  and 
the  amount  reduced  into  writing  and  exhibited  to  him.  And  there 
were  "  found  deposited  in  the  Temple  gold  and  silver  vases  of  inestimable 
price,  and  money,  and  many  precious  gems,  an  enumeration  whereof 
would,  in  truth,  astonish  the  hearers." — Addison's  History  of  Knights 
Templars. 


The  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem. 

This  renowned  military  and  religious  Order,  for  upwards  of  four 
hundred  years,  had  its  chef  lieu  in  Clerkenwell.  Its  origin  has  been 
referred  to  in  a  previous  page  (113).  Their  magnificent  Priory  was 
founded  in  the  year  iioo,  by  Jordan  Briset,  a  baron  of  the  Kingdom, 
and  Muriel,  his  wife,  near  unto  "  Clarke's  Well,"  (now  Clerkenwell,) 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  This  was  the  period  of  the  first  Crusade. 
Forty  years  later,  the  servants  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem 
became  "  a  military  order  of  monks,  the  first  body  of  men  united  by 
religious  vows,  who  wielded  the  temporal  sword  against  the  enemies  of 
the  faith."  They  triumphed  over  the  great  rival  Order  of  the  Templars. 
Their  greatest  conquest  was  the  island  of  Rhodes,  whence  they  became 
the  Knights  of  Rhodes,  which  island,  in  two  centuries,  they  rendc-ed 
one  of  the  strongest  places  in  the  world  ;  and,  during  its  six  months' 
siege  by  the  Turks,  they  are  said  to  have  lost  upwards  of  one  hundred 
thousand  men.  After  this  conquest,  the  Knights  of  St.  John  dwelt 
within  their  Priory  at  Clerkenwell,  which  was  of  almost  palatial  extent, 
employing  their  great  possessions  for  the  maintenance  of  the  poor. 
But,  before  the  end  of  the  fourteenth  century,  they  incurred  the  hatred 
of  the  common  people  by  their  tyranny  and  licentiousness. 

The  year  1381  was  one  of  dire  calamity  to  the  Knights  Hospitallers, 
who  had  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  populace.  The  rebels  under 
Wat  Tyler  directed  their  fury  against  the  houses  and  possessions  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John,  their  rancour  having  been  greatly  excited  by  the 
haughty  conduct  of  Sir  Robert  Hales,  the  Pi-ior,  and  Lord  Treasurer 
of  England,  who,  when  the  mob,  led  by  Wat  Tyler,  sought  a  con- 
ference with  the  King  (Richard  H.),  counselled  their  punishment. 
On  their  demands  being  told  to  the  King,  Simon  de  Sudbury,  thf 


I  iS  The  Knights  Hospitallers  of  St.  John. 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  Sir  Robert  Hales,  "spake  earnestly 
agamst  their  advice,  and  would  not,  by  any  means,  that  the  King 
should  go  to  such  sort  of  bare-legged  ribalds,  but  rather  he  wished  that 
they  should  take  some  order  to  abate  the  pride  of  such  vile  rascals."  The 
rebels  of  Essex  had  previously  displayed  their  animosity  to  this  Prior, 
who,  "  having  a  goodly  and  delectable  manor  in  Essex,  wherein  was 
ordained  victuals  and  other  necessaries  for  the  use  of  a  chapter  general 
and  a  great  abundance  of  fair  stuffs — of  wines,  arras  cloths,  and  other 
provisions  for  the  Knights  Brethren, — the  commons  entered  this  manor, 
ate  up  all  the  victuals,  and  spoiled  the  manor  and  ground  with  great 
damage." 

This  riotous  mob,  emboldened  by  their  successes,  on  Thursday,  the 
T3th  of  June,  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  divided  themselves  into  three 
bodies ;  those  that  were  in  the  City,  the  "  commons  of  Kent,"  broke 
open  the  Fleet,  and  let  the  prisoners  go  where  they  would.  From 
thence  they  went  to  the  Temple,  to  destroy  it,  and  pulled  down  the 
houses,  took  off  the  tiles  from  the  other  buildings  left,  went  to  the 
church,  took  out  all  the  books  and  remembrances  that  were  in  the 
hutches  of  the  prentices  of  the  law,  carried  them  into  the  high  street, 
and  there  burnt  them.  "  This  house,"  says  Stow,  "  they  spoiled  for 
wrath  they  bare  the  Lord  Prior  of  St.  John's,  to  whom  it  belonged." 
Their  vengeance  was  not  satisfied,  for  after  "  the  destruction  of  the 
Savoy,  the  rebels,"  says  Froissart,  "  went  straight  to  the  faire  hos- 
pitalle  of  the  Rodes,  called  aiynte  Johans,  and  there  they  brent  (burnt) 
house,  hospitalle,  mynster,  and  all ;  then  they  went  from  streete  to 
strecte,  and  slew  all  the  flemmyngcs  that  they  could  fynde  in  churche 
or  in  any  other  place ;  there  was  none  respyted  fro  death."  The  fire, 
the  account  says,  burnt  for  the  space  of  seven  days  after,  and  none  was 
suffered  to  (juench  it.  These  conflagrations  filled  the  minds  of  the 
peaceful  citizens  with  terror;  and  the  King  was  dismayed  when  he  saw 
from  a  distance  the  city  illumined  by  the  flames.  Stow  tells  us  that  "  the 
King,  being  in  a  tunxt  of  the  1'ower  [of  Lontlon],  and  seeing  the 
mansion  of  Savoy,  the  Priory  of  St.  John's  Hospital,  and  other  houses 
on  fire,  demanded  of  his  counsel!  what  was  best  to  be  done  in  that 
extremitie ;  but  none  could  counseille  in  that  case." 

Whilst  the  rebels  of  Kent  were  making  tins  havoc  in  the  metropolis, 
•o  that,  in  this  disorder,  *'  London  looked  like  a  city  taken  by  storm," 
the  commons  of  Essex,  twenty  thousand  strong,  \vA  on  by  one  Jack 
Straw,  "  took  in  hantl  to  ruinate"  the  Lord  Prior's  country-seat  at  his 
manor  of  Highbury,  which  they  ditl  eflcctually,  pulling  down  by  main 
furcc  all  tltubc  mahi  paxta  uf  the  building  which  the  firu  could  not  con- 


TJie  Knigiits  Hospitallers  of  St.  Joiirt.  1 19 

8ume.  The  Tower  was  successfully  assaulted  by  another  body  of  the 
rioters;  and  several  of  the  nobility,  who  had  fled  hither  for  refuge, 
came  to  an  untimely  end.  Sir  Robert  Hales,  the  Prior,  was  beheaded 
in  the  courtyard  of  the  Prioiy,  the  site  of  St.  John's-square.  Sudbury, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  others,  were  dragged  out  and  beheaded 
on  Tower-hill.  Such  a  strong  repugnance  had  the  riotous  commons  to 
the  Hospitallers,  that  Jack  Straw,  in  a  subsequent  confession,  speaking 
of  the  intentions  of  his  partisans,  declared,  with  bitter  emphasis, 
"  specially  we  would  have  destroyed  the  Knights  of  St.  John." 

Thus  was  the  magnificent  Priory  swept  away.  During  the  next 
century  it  was  restored.  The  conventual  church  was  rebuilt,  the  old 
site  again  covered  with  buildings.  Prior  Docwra  completed  the  church 
and  rebuilt  St.  John's-gate,  originally  erected  at  the  foundation  of  the 
Priory  in  iioo.  Docwra  was  the  immediate  predecessor  of  the  last 
superior  of  the  house,  who  died  of  grief  on  Ascension  day,  1540,  when 
the  Priory  was  suppressed.  Five  years  subsequently,  the  site  and  pre- 
cincts were  granted  to  Lord  John  Lisle,  for  his  service  as  high  admiral ; 
the  church  becoming  a  kind  of  storehouse  "  for  the  King's  toyles  and 
tents  for  hunting,  and  for  the  warres."  At  the  Suppression,  yearly 
pensions  were  granted  to  the  knights  by  the  King,  and  to  the  Lord  Prior 
during  his  life,  looc/.;  but  he  never  received  a  penny:  the  King  took 
into  his  hands  all  the  lands  that  belonged  to  the  House  and  the  Order 
in  England  and  Ireland,  "  for  the  augmentation  of  his  Crown."  In  the 
reign  of  King  Edward  VI.,  the  church,  with  the  great  bell-tower  (a 
most  curious  piece  of  workmanship,  graven,  gilt,  and  enamelled,  to  the 
great  beautifying  of  the  city)  was  undermined  and  blown  up  with  gun- 
powder, and  the  materials  were  employed  by  the  Lord  Protector  to 
King  Edward  VI.  in  building  Somerset  Place;  the  Gate  would,  pro- 
bably, have  been  destroyed,  but  from  its  serving  to  define  the  property. 
The  Priory  was  partly  restored  upon  the  accession  of  Mary,  but  again 
suppressed  by  Elizabeth. 

Hollar's  etchings  show  the  castellated  Hospital,  with  the  old  front,  about 
1640  ;  and  the  Gate-house,  the  southern  entrance,  and  the  church,  both 
in  St.  John's-square,  which  was  the  Priory  court.  The  church  is  built  upon 
the  chancel  and  side  aisles  of  the  old  Priory  church,  and  upon  its  crypt. 
The  Gate-house,  which  in  1604,  was  granted  to  Sir  Roger  Wilbraham 
for  his  life,  subsequently  became  the  printing-office  of  Edward  Cave, 
who,  in  1731,  published  here  the  first  number  of  the  Gentkmans 
Magazine.  Dr.  Johnson  was  first  engaged  here  by  Cave,  in  1737: 
here  Johnson  first  met  Savage ;  Ganick  frequently  called  upon  Johnson, 
as  did  Goldsmith  ;  and  when  Cave  grew  rich,  he  had  St.  John's  Gate 


1 20       Queen  Elizabeth,  the  Manor  of  Pleazaimce, 

painted,  instead  of  his  arms,  on  his  carriage,  and  engraved  on  his  plata 
The  Gate,  a  good  specimen  of  the  groining  of  the  15th  century,  orna- 
mented with  shields  of  the  arms  of  France  and  England,  and  those  of 
the  Priory  and  Docwra,  has  been  saved  from  removal,  and  restored. 


Queen  Elizabeth,  the  Manor  of  Pleazaunce,  and 
Greenwich  Castle. 

Greenwich  was  called  by  the  Romans  Grenovkum,  and  in  Saxon 
Grenaiuic,  or  the  Green  Town.  Lambarde  gives  this  curious  account 
of  its  early  history :  "In  ancient  evidences.  East  Greenwiche  for  dit 
ference  sake  from  Deptford,  which  in  olde  instruments  is  called  West- 
greenewiche.  In  the  time  of  the  turmoiled  King  Ethelred,  the  whole 
fleete  of  the  Danish  army  lay  at  roade  two  or  three  yeres  together  be- 
fore Greenwich :  and  the  souldours  for  the  most  part  were  encamped 
upon  the  hill  above  the  towne  now  called  Blackheath.  During  this 
time  (loii)  they  pierced  the  whole  countrie,  sacked  and  spoiled  the 
citie  of  Canterburie,  and  brought  from  thence  in  to  their  ships,  Alepheg 
[Alphege]  the  Archbishop.  And  here  a  Dane  (called  Thrum)  whome 
the  Archbishop  had  confirmed  in  Christianitie  the  day  before,  strake 
him  on  the  head  behinde,  and  slew  him,  because  he  would  not  con- 
descend to  redeeme  his  life  with  three  thousand  pounds,  whicii  the 
people  of  the  citie  and  diocesse  were  contented  to  have  given  for  his 
ransome ;  neither  would  the  rest  of  the  souldiors  suffer  his  body  to  be 
committed  to  the  earth,  after  the  manner  of  Chribtian  docencie,  till 
such  time,  (said  William  of  Malmcsbury,)  as  they  perceived  that  a  dead 
sticke,  being  anointed  with  his  bloud,  waxed  suddenly  grecne  againe, 
and  began  the  next  day  to  blossome.  Which  by  all  likelihood  was 
gathered  in  the  wood  of  Dia  Feronia ;  for  she  was  a  goddcsse,  whom 
the  Poets  do  phantasie  to  have  caused  a  whole  woodc  (that  was  on  fire) 
to  wax  grecne  again."  Tiie  present  clnirch  of  St.  Alphege,  in  Green- 
wich, stands  on  the  spot  where  he  suffered  martyrdom. 

A  royal  residence  is  noticed  at  Greenwich  as  early  as  the  reign  of 
King  Edward  the  First,  when  that  Monarch  made  an  offering  of  seven 
shillings  at  each  of  the  iioly  crosses  in  the  chapel  of  the  Virgin  Maxy, 
and  the  Prince  an  ofllTing  of  half  that  sum:  though  by  whom  the 
Palace  was  erected  is  not  known. 

King  Henry  IV.  dates  his  will  from  his  Manor  of  Greenwich  Ian. 
»2, 1408  ;  which  appeal's  to  have  been  his  favourite  residence. 


and  Greenwich  Castle.  I2i 

King  Henry  V.  (in  wliose  time  Greenwich  was  still  a  sniall  fishing- 
town),  granted  the  Manor  for  life  to  his  kinsman,  Thomas  Beaufoit, 
Duke  of  Exeter;  soon  after  whose  decease  in  141 7,  it  passed  to  Hum- 
phrey, Duke  of  Gloucester,  who,  in  i433,obLiined  a  grant  of  200  acres 
of  land  in  Greenwich,  for  the  purpose  of  enclosing  it  as  a  Park.  In  1437 
he  obtained  a  similar  grant,  and  in  it  license  was  given  to  the  Duke,  and 
Eleanor  his  wife,  "  their  Manor  of  Greenwich  to  embattle  and  build 
with  stone,  and  to  enclose  and  make  a  tower  and  ditch  within  the  same, 
and  a  certain  tower  within  his  park  to  build  and  edify."  Accordingly, 
soon  after  this,  he  commenced  building  the  Tower  within  the  park,  now 
the  site  of  the  Royal  Observatory,  which  was  then  called  Green^jjlcb 
Castle;  and  likewise  newly  erected  the  Palace  on  the  spot  where  the 
West  wing  of  the  Royal  Hospital  now  stands,  which  palace  he  named, 
from  its  agreeable  situation,  L'  Pleazaunce,  or  Placentia;  this  name, 
however,  was  not  commonly  made  use  of  until  the  reign  of  Henry  VUI. 

Duke  Humphrey  was  Regent  of  England  during  the  minority  of 
King  Hairy  VI.,  and  for  his  many  virtues  was  styled  the  '■  Father  of 
his  Country."  He  excited  the  envy  of  Queen  Margaret  from  his  strong 
opposition  to  her  marriage  with  Henry,  which  induced  her  to  enter  into 
a  confederacy  with  the  Cardinal  of  Winchester  and  the  Earl  of  Suftblk ; 
who,  strengthened  by  her  assistance,  and  incited  by  their  common  hatred 
of  the  patriotic  Duk?,  basely  assassinated  him  at  St.  Edmondsbury, 
Suffolk,  Feb.  28th,  1447.  He  was  a  generous  patron  of  men  of  science, 
and  the  most  learned  person  of  his  age:  he  founded  at  Oxford  one  of 
the  first  public  libraries  in  England.  Leland,  in  his  Laboryeuse 
Journey,  says,  "  Humfrey,  the  good  Duke  of  Glocestre,  from  the  faver 
he  bare  to  good  letters,  purchased  a  wonderful!  iiombre  of  bokes  in  all 
scyences,  whereof  he  frely  gave  to  a  lybrary  in  Oxforde  a  hondi-ed  and 
xxix  fayre  volumes."  He  was  buried  in  the  Abbey  church  of  St. 
Alban,  where  a  handsome  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory. 

At  Duke  Humphrey's  death,  in  1447,  the  Manor  reverted  to  the 
Crown.  King  Edward  IV.  expended  considerable  sums  in  enlarging 
and  beautifying  the  Palace,  which  he  granted,  with  the  Manor  and 
Town  of  Greenwich  and  the  Park  there,  to  Elizabeth  his  Queen.  In 
this  reign,  a  royal  joust  was  performed  at  Greenwich,  on  the  mamage 
of  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  with  Anne  Mowbray.  In  1482,  Mary,  the 
King's  daughter,  died  here ;  she  was  betrothed  to  the  King  of  Denmark, 
jut  died  before  the  solemnization  of  the  marriage. 

The  Manor  with  the  appurtenances  came  into  the  possession  of 
Henry  VII.  by  the  imprisonment  of  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  Edward  IV. 
Henry  on  some  frivolous  pretence,  committed  her  in  close  confinement 


122  Queen  Elizabeth,  Pleazattnce, 

to  the  nunnery  of  Bermondsey,  where,  some  years  after,  she  ended  her 
life  in  poverty  and  solitude.  Henry  enlarged  the  Palace,  and  added  a 
brick  front  towards  the  water-side;  finished  the  Tower  in  the  Park 
begun  by  Duke  Humphrey ;  and  built  a  convent  adjoining  the  Palace 
for  the  Observant  or  Grey  Friars,  who  came  to  Greenwich  about  the 
latter  end  of  the  reign  of  Edward  IV,  This  convent,  after  its  dissolu- 
tion in  the  reign  of  Henry  VHI.,  was  re-founded  by  Queen  Mary,  but 
finally  suppressed  by  Elizabeth  in  i  fjj^p. 

In  1487,  on  the  second  day  preceding  the  coronation  of  Heniy  VII., 
the  Queen  came  from  Greenwich  by  water,  royally  attended ;  and 
among  the  barges  of  the  City  Companies  which  accompanied  the  pro- 
cession was  "  in  especial,  a  barge  called  the  Bachelors'  barge,  garnished 
and  apparelled  passing  all  others ;  wherein  was  ordeyned  a  gi-eat  rcdde 
dragon,  spouting  flames  of  fyer  into  the  Thames,  and  many  gentlemanlie 
pagiaunts,  well  and  curiously  devised  to  do  her  highnesse  sporte  and  plea- 
soure  with." 

King  Henry  VIII.  was  born  at  Greenwich,  June  28,  1491,  and  bap- 
tized in  the  parish  church,  by  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  Lord  Privy  Seal. 
This  monarch  exceeded  all  his  predecessors  in  the  grandeur  of  his  build- 
ings, and  rendered  the  Palace  magnificent;  and,  perhaps,  from  par- 
tiality for  the  place  of  his  birth,  resided  chiefly  at  Greenwich,  neglecting 
the  Palace  of  Eltham,  which  had  been  the  favor  lite  residence  of  his  an- 
cestors. Many  sumptuous  banquets,  revels,  and  solemn  jousts,  for 
which  his  reign  was  celebrated,  were  held  at  his  Manor  of  Pleazaunce. 
In  1509,  June  3,  Henry's  marriage  with  Catherine  of  Aragon,  was 
solemnized  here.  In  ii^ii,  on  May-day,  "The  Xing  lying  at  Green- 
wich, rode  to  the  wodde  to  fetch  May ;  and  after,  on  the  same  day, 
and  two  days  next  ensuing,  the  King,  Sir  Edward  Howard,  Charles 
Brandon,  and  Sir  Edward  Nevill,  as  challengers,  held  justcs  against  all 
romers.  On  the  other  part,  the  Manjuis  Dorset,  the  Earls  of  Essex 
and  Devonshire,  with  others,  as  defcndauntcs,  ramie  againste  them,  so 
that  many  a  sore  stripe  was  given,  and  many  a  stafte  broken." 

In  1 513,  the  King  gave  a  festival  "with  great  solemnity,  dancing, 
disguisings,  and  mummeries,  in  a  most  princely  manner."  At  this  en- 
tertainment was  introduced  the  first  Mascjuerade  ever  seen  in  I'-ngland : 
the  following  account  of  it  and  the  other  festivities  of  this  Christmas  may 
nut  prove  uninteresting,  as  it  is  very  cliaracteristic  of  the  splendours 
of  tliat  periml : — "The  Kyng  this  yere  kept  the  feast  of  Christ- 
mas at  Grenewith,  wher  was  such  abundance  of  viandcs  served  to  all 
romers  of  any  honest  behaviours,  as  hatli  been  few  timi-s  seen ;  and 
against  Nt^-yere's  night  was  made,  in  the  hall,  a  castle,  gates,  towers^ 


and  Greenwich  Castle.  123 

and  dungeon,  garnished  with  artilerie  and  weapon,  after  the  most  war- 
like fashion  ;  and  on  the  frount  of  the  castle  was  written,  Le  Fartresse 
dangerus  ;  and  within  the  castle  wer  six  ladies  clothed  in  russet  satin  laide 
all  over  with  leves  of  golde,  and  every  owde  knit  with  laces  of  blewe  silke 
and  golde;  on  ther  heddes  coyfes  and  cappes  all  of  gold.  After  this 
castle  had  been  caried  about  the  hal,  and  the  Queue  had  behelde  it,  in 
came  the  Kyng  with  five  other  appareled  in  coates,  the  one  halfe  of 
russet  satyn  spangled  with  spangels  of  fine  gold,  the  other  halfe  rich 
clothe  of  gold ;  on  ther  heddes  caps  of  russet  satin,  embroudered  with 
workes  of  fine  gold  bullion.  These  six  assaulted  the  castle,  the  ladies 
seyng  them  so  lustie  and  coragious  wer  content  to  solace  with  them, 
and  upon  further  communicacion  to  yeld  the  castle,  and  so  thei  came 
down  and  daunced  a  long  space.  And  after  the  ladies  led  the  knightes 
into  the  castle,  and  then  the  castle  sodainly  vanished  out  of  ther  sightes. 
On  the  daie  of  the  Epiphanie  at  night,  the  Kyng  with  xi  other  wer  dis- 
guised after  the  manner  of  Italie,  called  a  maske,  a  thing  not  seen  afore 
in  Englande ;  thei  wer  appareled  in  garmentes  long  and  brode,  wrought 
all  with  gold,  with  visers  and  cappes  of  gold ;  and  after  the  banket  doen, 
these  maskers  came  in  with  six  gentlemen  disguised  in  silke,  bearing 
staffc  torches,  and  desired  the  ladies  to  daunce  ;  some  were  content,  and 
some  that  knewe  the  fashion  of  it  refused,  because  it  was  not  a  thing 
commonly  seen.  And  after  thei  daunced  and  commoned  together,  as 
the  fashion  of  the  maske  is,  thei  tooke  their  leave  and  departed,  and  so 
<\id  the  Queue  and  all  the  ladies." — Hall's  CbronicU. 

Other  joustes  were  held,  as  also  in  1516,  151 7,  and  1526.  In  1512, 
the  King  kept  his  Christmas  at  Greenwich  "  with  great  and  plentiful 
cheer,"  in  a  most  princely  manner ;  also  in  1521,  1525,  1527,  1533, 
1537,  and  1543.  On  Feb.  8th,  1515,  Princess  Mary,  afterwards 
Queen,  was  born  here;  and  on  fvlay  13th,  the  marriage  of  Mary, 
Queen  Dowager  of  France  (Henry's  sister),  with  Charles  Brandon, 
Duke  of  Suffolk,  was  publicly  solemnized  in  the  parish  church.  In 
1527,  the  embassy  from  the  French  King  to  Henry  VHI.  was  received 
here.  This  embassy,  that  it  might  correspond  with  the  English  Court 
in  magnificence,  consisted  of  eight  persons  of  high  quality,  attended  by 
six  hundred  horse;  they  were  received  with  the  greatest  honours, 
"  and  entertained  after  a  more  sumptuous  manner  than  had  ever  been 
seen  before."  In  1533,  Sept.  7th,  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  afterwards 
Queen,  was  bom  here.  In  1536,  on  May-day,  after  a  tournament, 
Anne  Boleyn,  the  mother  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  was  arrested  here 
by  the  King's  order.  She  was  beheaded  on  the  19th  of  the  same  month 
in  the  Tower  of  London.    In  1540,  Jan.  6,  Henry's  marriage  with 


124  Qiiccn  Elisabeth,  Pleazatince, 

Anne  of  Cleves  was  solemnized  here ;  "  and  aboute  her  marying  ring 
was  written,  '  God  send  me  wel  to  kepe.'  "  This  was  a  most  un- 
propitious  alliance,  for  Henry  took  a  dislike  to  Anne  of  Cleves  imme- 
diately after  their  marriage.  Cromwell  Earl  of  Essex,  the  wise  and 
faithful  minister  of  this  ungrateful  king,  was  beheaded  in  the  Tower,  in 
1540,  because  he  had  been  the  principal  promoter  of  this  marriage. 

A  procession  from  Greenwich  to  Westminster,  immediately  after  the 
nuptials  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Anne  of  Cleves,  is  thus  chronicled  by 
Holinshed: — "The  fourth  of  Feburarie  (1540),  the  King  and  she  re- 
moucd  to  Westminster  by  water,  on  whom  the  Lord  Maior  and  his 
brethren,  with  tweluc  of  the  cheefe  companies  of  the  citie,  all  in  barges 
gorgeously  garnished  with  baners,  penons,  and  targets,  richlie  couered, 
and  furnished  with  instruments  sweetly  sounding,  gaue  their  attendance: 
and  by  their  waie,  all  the  ships  shot  off;  and  likewise  from  the  tower,  a 
great  peal  of  ordnance  went  off  lustilie."  "  The  King,  after  Parliament  was 
ended,  kept  a  solempe Christmas  at  Grenewiche  to  chere  his  nobles,  and  on 
the  twelfe  day  at  night,  came  in  the  hall  a  mount,  called  the  riche  mount. 
The  mount  was  set  full  of  riche  flowers  of  silke ;  the  braunches  wer 
grene  sattin,  and  the  flowers  flat  gold  of  damaske,  which  signified  Plan- 
tagenet.  On  the  top  stode  a  godly  bekon  gcvyng  light ;  rounde  about 
the  bekon  sat  the  Kyng  and  five  other,  al  in  coates  and  cappes  of  right 
crimosin  velvet,  enbroudered  with  flat  golde  of  damaske ;  the  coates  set 
full  of  spangelles  of  gold.  And  four  woodhouses  drewe  the  mount  till 
it  came  before  the  Queue,  and  then  the  Kyng  and  his  compaignie  dis- 
cended  and  daunced  ;  then  sodainly  the  mount  opened  and  out  came 
fiixe  ladies,  all  in  crimosin  satin  and  plunket  enbroudered  with  gold  and 
perle,  and  French  hoddes  on  their  hcddes,  and  thei  daunced  alone. 
Then  the  lordes  of  the  mount  took  tiie  ladies  and  daunced  together; 
and  the  ladies  re-cntred,  and  the  mount  closed,  and  so  was  convcighed 
out  of  the  hall.  Then  the  Kyng  shifted  hym  and  came  to  the  Queue, 
and  Kit  at  the  banqute  whiche  was  very  sumpteous." — Hall. 

The  fortunes  of  Duke  Humphrey's  Tower  were  very  changeful.  It 
was  sometimes  the  habitation  of  the  younger  branches  of  the  royal 
family ;  sometimes  the  residence  of  a  favourite  mistress  ;  sometimes  a 
prison,  and  sometimes  a  place  of  defence.  Mary  of  York,  fifth 
daughter  of  I'.d ward  I V.,  died  at  the  Tower  in  Greenwich  Park,  in  1 482. 
In  1 -j43,  the  King  entertained  twenty-one  of  the  Scottisii  nobility  here, 
whom  he  had  taken  prisoners  at  Salem  Moss,  and  gave  them  liberty 
without  nmsom. 

King  Edward  VI.  resided  at  this  Manor,  where  ho  kept  his 
Cbiistma*  in  1553  j  be  died  here  July  Cth,  1553. 


and  Greenwich  Castle.  125 

'  Queen  Elizabeth  made  several  additions  to  the  Palace,  where  she 
kept  a  regular  Court.  In  1559,  July  2,  she  was  entertained  by  the 
citizens  of  London  with  a  muster  of  1400  men,  and  a  mock  fight  in 
Greenwich  Park ;  and  on  the  loth  of  the  same  month  she  gave  a  joust, 
mask,  and  sumptuous  banquet  in  the  Park,  to  several  Ambassadors, 
Lords,  and  Ladies.  At  a  Council  held  at  Greenwich  the  same  year,  it 
was  determined  to  be  contraiy  to  law  for  any  Nuncio  from  the  Pope  to 
enter  this  realm. 

In  1585,  June  29th,  she  received  here  the  Deputies  of  the  United 
Provinces,  who  offered  her  the  sovereignty  of  the  Low  Countries, 
which,  from  motives  of  state  policy,  she  declined  to  accept.  In  1586, 
she  received  the  Danish  Ambassador  at  Greenwich ;  and  in  1597, 
July  25th,  the  Ambassador  from  the  King  of  Poland. 

A  curious  picture  of  the  Queen  and  her  Court  at  Greenwich 
appears  in  Paul  Hentzner's  Journey  into  England,  in  1598,  and  the  ac- 
count of  his  reception  by  Elizabeth  is  minute  and  characteristic.  "  It 
was  here,"  says  Hentzner,  "  Elizabeth,  the  present  queen,  was  bom,  and 
here  she  generally  resides,  particularly  in  summer,  for  the  delightfulness 
of  its  situation.  We  were  admitted  by  an  order  Mr.  Rogers  had  pro- 
cured for  us  from  the  Lord  Chamberlain  into  the  presence-chamber, 
hung  with  rich  tapestry,  and  the  floor,  after  the  English  fashion,  covered 
with  hay  (rushes),  through  which  the  Queen  passes  in  her  way  to 
chapel.  At  the  door  stood  a  gentleman  dressed  in  velvet,  with  a  gold 
chain,  whose  office  was  to  introduce  to  the  Queen  any  persons  of  dis- 
tinction that  came  to  wait  on  her.  It  was  Sunday,  when  there  is 
usually  the  greatest  attendance  of  nobility.  In  the  same  hall  were  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Bishop  of  London,  a  great  number  of 
counsellors  of  state,  officers  of  the  crown,  and  gentlemen,  who  waited 
the  Queen's  coming  out,  which  she  did  from  her  own  apartment,  when 
it  was  time  to  go  to  prayers,  attended  in  the  following  manner: 

"  First  went  gentlemen,  barons,  earls,  knights  of  the  garter,  all  richly 
dressed,  and  bare-headed ;  next  came  the  Chancellor,  bearing  the  seals 
in  a  red  silk  purse,  between  two,  one  of  which  carried  the  royal  sceptre, 
the  other  the  sword  of  state,  in  a  red  scabbard,  studded  with  golden 
fleurs-de-lis,  the  points  upwards. 

"  Next  came  the  Queen,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  her  age,  as  we  are 
told,  very  majestic  ;  her  face  oblong,  fair,  but  wrinkled ;  her  eyes  small, 
yet  black  and  pleasant ;  a  nose  a  little  hooked  ;  her  lips  naiTOw,  and  her 
teeth  black  (a  defect  the  English  seem  subject  to,  from  their  too  great 
use  of  sugar);  she  had  in  the  ears  two  pearls  with  very  rich  drops; 
she  wore  false  hair,  and  that  red ;  upon  her  head  she  had  a  small  crown« 


126  Qiiccn  Elizabeth,  Pleazatmce, 

reputed  to  be  made  of  some  of  the  gold  of  the  celebrated  Lunedurg 
table.  Her  bosom  was  uncovered,  as  all  English  ladies  have  it  till 
they  marry ;  and  she  had  on  a  necklace  of  exceeding  fine  jewels ;  her 
hands  were  small,  her  fingers  long,  and  her  stature  neither  tall  nor  low ; 
her  air  was  stately,  her  manner  of  speaking  mild  and  obliging.  That 
day  she  was  dressed  in  white  silk,  bordered  with  pearls  of  the  size  of 
beans,  and  over  it  a  mantle  of  black  silk,  shot  with  silver  threads ;  her 
train  was  very  long,  the  end  of  it  borne  by  a  marchioness ;  instcid  of 
a  chain,  she  had  an  oblong  collar  of  gold  and  jewels. 

"  As  she  went  along  in  all  this  state  and  magnificence,  she  spoke 
very  graciously,  first  to  one,  then  to  another,  whether  foreign  ministers, 
or  those  who  attended  for  different  reasons,  in  English,  French,  or 
Italian ;  for,  besides  being  well  skilled  in  Greek,  Latin,  and  the  languages 
I  have  mentioned,  she  is  a  mistress  of  Spanish,  Scotch,  and  Dutch. 
W.  Slawata,  a  Bohemian  baron,  had  letters  to  present  to  her;  and  she, 
after  pulling  off  her  glove,  gave  him  her  right  hand  to  kiss,  sparkling 
with  rings  and  jewels,  a  mark  of  particular  favour.  Whenever  she 
turned  her  face,  as  she  was  going  along,  everybody  fell  down  on  their 
knees.  The  ladies  of  the  Court  followed  next  to  her,  very  handsome  and 
well-shaped,  and  for  the  most  part,  dressed  in  white.  She  was  guarded 
on  each  side  by  the  gentlemen  pensioners,  fifty  in  number,  with  gilt 
battle-axes.  In  the  ante-chapel,  where  we  were,  petitions  were  pre- 
sented to  her,  and  she  received  them  most  graciously,  which  occasioned 
the  acclamation  of.  Long  Ifve  Queen  Elizabeth.  She  answered  it  with, 
1  thank  you,  my  good  people.  In  the  chapel  was  excellent  music;  as 
soon  as  it  and  the  service  were  over,  which  scarce  exceeded  half-an- 
hour,  the  Queen  returned  in  the  same  state  and  order,  and  prepared  to 
go  to  dinner.  But  while  she  was  still  at  prayers,  we  saw  her  table  set 
out  with  the  following  solemnity : — 

"  A  gentleman  entered  the  room,  bearing  a  rod,  and  along  with  him 
another,  who  had  a  table-cloth,  which,  after  they  had  botii  kneeled 
three  times,  with  the  utmost  veneration,  he  spread  upon  the  table  ;  and 
after  kneeling  again  they  both  retired.  Then  came  two  others,  one  with 
the  rod  again,  the  other  with  a  aalt-seller,  a  plate,  and  bread ;  when 
they  had  kneeled,  as  the  others  had  done,  and  placed  what  was  brought 
upon  the  table,  they  too  retired  with  the  same  ceremonies  performed 
by  the  first.  At  last  came  an  unmarried  lady  (we  were  told  she  was  a 
countess),  and  along' with  her  a  married  one,  bearing  a  tasting-knife ; 
the  former  was  dressed  in  white  silk,  who,  when  she  had  prepared  her- 
self three  times,  in  the  most  graceful  manner,  approached  the  table, 
rubbed  the  plates  with  bread  and  salt,  with  as  much  awe  as  if  the 


and  Greenwich  Castle.  127 

Queen  had  been  present.  When  they  had  waited  there  a  little  while, 
the  yeoman  of  the  guard  entered,  bare-headed,  clothed  in  scarlet,  with 
a  golden  rose  upon  their  backs,  bringing  in  at  each  turn  a  course  of 
twenty-four  dishes,  served  in  plates,  most  of  them  gilt ;  these  dishes 
were  received  by  gentlemen  in  the  same  order  they  were  brought,  and 
placed  upon  the  table,  while  the  lady-taster  gave  to  each  of  the  guard 
a  mouthful  to  eat,  of  the  particular  dish  he  had  brought,  for  fear  ol 
any  poison. 

"  During  the  time  that  this  guard,  which  consists  of  the  tallest  and 
stoutest  men  that  can  be  found  in  all  England,  being  carefully  selected 
for  this  service,  were  bringing  dinner,  twelve  trumpets  and  two  kettle 
drums  made  the  hall  ring  for  half-an-hour  together. 

"  At  the  end  of  all  this  ceremonial,  a  number  of  unmarried  ladies 
appeared,  who,  with  particular  solemnity,  lifted  the  meat  off  the  table, 
and  conveyed  it  into  the  Qiieen's  inner  and  more  private  chamber, 
where,  after  she  had  chosen  for  herself,  the  rest  goes  to  the  ladies  of 
the  Court.  The  Queen  dines  and  sups  alone,  with  very  few  attendants ; 
and  it  is  very  seldom  that  anybody,  foreigner  or  native,  is  admitted  at 
that  time,  and  then  only  at  the  intercession  of  somebody  in  power." 

To  return  to  the  history  of  the  royal  abode.  King  James  I.  erected  a 
new  brick  front  to  the  Palace  towards  the  gardens ;  and  his  Queen, 
Anne  of  Denmark,  laid  the  foundation  of  the  "  House  of  Delight," 
near  the  Park  ;  in  this  house  the  Governor  of  Greenwich  Hospital  after- 
wards resided,  and  it  is  now  the  centre  building  of  the  Naval  Asylum. 
In  1606,  the  Princess  Mary,  daughter  of  James  I.,  was  christened  at 
Greenwich  with  great  solemnity. 

King  Charles  I.  resided  much  at  the  Palace  previous  to  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Parliamentary  War;  and  Henrietta  Maria,  his  Queen, 
finished  the  House  near  the  Park  begun  by  Anne  of  Denmark.  Inigo 
Jones  was  employed  as  the  architect,  and  it  was  completed  in  [635,  as 
appears  by  a  date  still  to  be  seen  on  the  front  of  the  building ;  it  was 
furnished  so  magnificently  that  it  far  surpassed  all  other  houses  of  the 
kind  in  England.  King  Charles  left  the  Palace  with  the  fatal  reso- 
lution of  taking  his  journey  northward,  and  the  turbulent  state  of  the 
times  prevented  him  from  again  visiting  it.  Greenwich  Castle  was  con- 
sidered a  place  of  some  strength  and  consequence  by  the  Parliament, 
in  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth.  On  the  restoration  of  King 
Charles  H.,  in  1660,  this  Manor,  with  the  Pailc,  and  other  royal 
demesnes,  again  reverted  to  the  crown.  The  King,  finding  the  old 
palace  greatly  decayed  by  time,  and  the  want  of  necessary  repaii-s 
during  the  Commonwealth,  ordered  it  to  be  taken  down,  and  coiP' 


128  Kamhigton  Palace. 

menced  the  erection  of  a  most  magnificent  palace  of  fi'eestone,  one  wing 
of  which  was  completed  (now  forming,  with  additions,  the  west  wing 
of  the  Royal  Hospital),  where  he  occasionally  resided,  but  made  no 
further  progress  in  the  work.  The  Architect  he  employed  was  Webb, 
6on-in-law  of  Inigo  Jones,  from  whose  papers  the  designs  were  made. 

In  1685  it  was  made  part  of  the  jointure  of  Queen  Mary,  consort  of 
King  James  II.,  but  remained  in  the  same  state  till  the  reign  of  William 
and  Mary,  whence  its  history  merges  in  that  of  the  Royal  Hospital.* 

At  the  entrance  to  Queen  Elizabeth's  Armoury  in  the  Tower  of 
London,  are  two  grotesque  figures,  of  the  time  of  Edward  VI.,  called 
•'  Gin"  and  "  Beer,"  which  Meyrick  supposes  to  have  been  originally 
placed  in  the  great  Hall  of  the  Palace  at  Greenwich,  over  the  doors 
which  led  to  the  buttery  and  larder. 


Kennington  Palace,  and  the  Princes  of  Wales. 

Upon  the  triangular  plot  of  ground  near  Kennington  Cross,  may  be 
traced  to  this  day  fragments  of  a  royal  palace,  the  retreat  of  our  ancient 
Kings,  dating  firom  Norman  times.  The  site  or  manor  belonged  to  thi^ 
Crown  in  the  Saxon  times,  its  name  Chenltune,  in  Domesday,  signifying 
the  place  or  tozun  of  the  Khig.  King  Richard  CcEur  de  Lion,  in  1189, 
granted  to  Sir  Robert  Percy  the  custody  of  this  manor  ;  and  appointed 
him  steward,  with  wages  of  fourpence  a  day.  At  Christmas,  1231, 
Henry  III.  held  his  court  here,  when  Hubert  de  Burgh,  justiciary  of 
England,  provided  everything  requisite  for  the  regal  festival.  Next  year 
Hubert  was  removed  from  his  office,  having  been  charged  with  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanours,  but  refused  to  attend  the  summons  of  the 
court.  The  custody  of  the  manor  was  granted  to  various  persons  by 
Heniy  III.,  Edward  II.,  and  Edward  III.  The  latter  was  at  Kenning- 
ton in  1340,  attended  by  his  eldest  son,  the  Black  Prince,  then  only 
ten  years  of  age.  He  died  in  1376,  soon  after  which  his  son  Richard 
was  created  Prince  of  Wales;  and  in  the  same  year  the  citizcnn 
of  London  made  a  Show,  or  Mummery,  "for  the  disport  of  the 
young  Prince,"  who  remained  at  Kennington,  with  his  mother,  his  uncle 
the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  the  Earls  of  Cambridge,  Hertford,  Warwick, 
and  Suflolk.  This  Show  took  place  in  the  night,  when  130  citizens, 
disguised  and  well  liorsed,  in  a  Mummery,  willi  sound  of  trumpets, 
sackhuts,  cornets,  shalmes,  and  other  minstrels,  and  innumerable  torch- 
lights of  wax,  rode  from  Newgate,  through  Cheap  over  tlie  Bridge, 

•  See  GrttHwich  :  its  History,  Antiqvitits,  b'c    Dy  II,  S.  Richnidson.    1834. 


Eltham  Palace.  1 29 

fhro'jgh  Southwark,  to  Kennington.  First  rode  48  Esquires,  in  red 
coats,  and  gowns  of  Say  or  Sendall,  with  vizors  on  their  faces.  Then 
came  48  Knights,  in  the  same  livery.  Then  one,  richly  arrayed  Uke  an 
Emperor ;  then  one  Hke  a  Pope,  and  24  Cardinals.  These  Maskers 
were  received  at  the  palace  by  the  Prince,  his  Mother,  and  the  Lords. 
The  Mummers  played  with  a  pair  of  dice  with  the  Prince,  who  always 
won  the  stakes,  among  which  was  a  Boule,  Cup,  and  Ring  of  Gold. 
The  Mummers  were  feasted,  the  Music  sounded,  and  the  Prince  and 
Lords  and  Mummers  danced  ;  and  the  jollity  ended  with  their  drinking 
and  departure.  Hither  came  a  deputation  of  the  chiefest  citizens  to 
Richard  II.,  "before  the  old  king  was  departed,"  "to  accept  him  for 
their  true  and  lawfull  king  and  gouemor."  Kennington  was  the  occa- 
sional residence  of  Henry  IV.  and  VI.  Henry  VII.  was  here  on 
the  Eve  of  St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude,  when  he  went  to  dine  with  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  at  Lambeth  Palace;  after  dinner,  with  a 
goodly  company  of  lords,  he  went  by  land  towards  London,  his  nobles 
riding  after  the  guise  of  France  upon  small  hackenies,  tiuo  and  tivo  upon 
a  horse ;  and  at  London  Bridge,  the  Mayor  and  his  brethren,  and  the 
crafts,  received  the  King,  who  proceeded  to  Grace-Church  comer,  and 
80  to  the  Tower. 

Katherine  of  Aragon  was  here  for  a  few  days.  James  I.  settled  the 
manor  on  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  his  eldest  son,  and  next  on  Prince 
Charles  (afterwards  Charles  I.),  and  it  has  ever  since  been  held  as  part 
of  the  estate  of  the  Princes  of  Wales.  In  161 7,  Prince  Charles  leased 
the  manor  of  Kennington,  but  retained  the  site  of  the  palace  and  its 
garden,  until  he  came  to  the  crown  in  1625;  after  which  the  palace 
was  taken  down,  and  there  was  built  on  the  site  a  manor-house,  de- 
scribed in  1656  as  an  old,  low,  timber  building  ;  but  of  the  palace  offices 
there  remained  the  stable,  a  long  building  of  flint  and  stone,  used  as  A 
barn:  this  was  taken  down  in  1795. 


Eltham  Palace. 

Eight  miles  south  of  London,  on  the  Maidstone  road,  lies  the  town 
of  Eltham  ;  and  hard  by,  are  the  remains  of  a  royal  palace,  which  was, 
for  centuries,  a  favourite  abode  of  English  monarchs.  The  approach  is 
through  an  avenue  of  noble  forest  trees.  East  of  the  palace,  and  extend- 
ing over  five  acres,  are  the  original  garden,  massive  walls,  and  a  lofty 
archway ;  and  the  entrance  to  the  palace  on  the  north  is  across  an  ivy- 
tnantled  bridge  of  four  groined  nrches,  of  massive  yet  beautiful  design, 
*  K 


130  E  It  ham  Palace. 

which  probably  replaced  the  drawbridge  in  the  reign  of  Edward  IV. 
The  manor  was  held  by  the  soldier-bishop,  Odo  of  Bayeux,  by  De 
Vescis,  and  de  Mandevilles,  and  de  Scropes ;  but  the  Crown  long  pre- 
served a  moiety,  and  now  holds  its  entire  extent.  The  manor  was 
granted,  in  1663,  to  Sir  John  Shaw,  Knight,  whose  family  derive  them- 
selves from  the  county  palatine  of  Chester.  Hugo  de  Shaw,  of  that 
county,  having  distinguished  himself,  under  the  Earl  of  Chester,  in  an 
enterprise  against  Llewellyn,  Prince  of  Wales,  in  the  Castle  of  Ruthin, 
had  several  manors,  and  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  given  him  in  marriage. 
One  of  the  titles  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  is  Earl  of  Eltham. 

The  palace  was  built,  most  probably,  on  part  of  those  premises  which 
were  granted  by  King  Edward  I.,  in  his  ninth  year  (1281),  to  John  de 
Vesci,  and  perhaps  on  the  very  site  of  the  house  where  Henry  HI.,  in 
his  fifty-fifth  year  (1279),  kept  his  Christmas  publicly,  according  to  the 
^stom  of  the  old  time  •,  being  accompanied  by  the  Queen  and  all  the 
great  men  of  the  realm.  Speaking  of  these  festivities,  Lambarde  remarks, 
"  And  this  (belike)  was  the  first  ivarming  of  the  house  (as  I  may  call 
it),  after  that  Bishop  Beke  had  finished  his  work.  For  I  do  not  hereby 
gather  that  hitherto  the  King  had  any  property  in  it,  forasmuch  as  the 
princes  in  those  dales  used  commonly  both  to  sojourn  for  their  plea- 
lures,  and  to  pass  their  set  solemnities  in  abbaies  and  bishops'  houses." 
Edward  II.  resided  at  Eltham  Palace,  where  in  1315,  his  queen  (Isabel), 
was  delivered  of  a  son,  who,  at  twelve  years  of  age,  was  created  Earl  ot 
Cornwall,  but  was  commonly  called  John  of  Eltham,  from  the  place  of 
his  birth ;  from  hence  the  hall  probably  derives  its  local  name,  '•  King 
John's  Barn." 

Ihe  Statutes  of  Eltham,  containing  precedents  for  the  government 
of  the  King's  house,  were  made  at  this  palace.  King  Edward  III.,  in 
the  fourth  year  of  his  reign,  held  a  parliament  here ;  and  thirty-four 
years  afterwards,  gave  a  princely  reception  to  John,  King  of  France 
(who  had  formerly  been  his  prisoner),  entertaining  him  with  great  mag- 
nificence. The  same  monarch  held  another  parliament  here  in  1375; 
when  the  Lords  and  Commons  attended  with  a  petition,  praying  him 
to  create  his  grandson,  Richard  of  Bordeaux  (son  of  the  Black  Prince 
and  heir  apparent  to  the  realm),  Prince  of  Wales.  Lionel,  his  third  son 
(guardian  of  the  realm),  kept  his  Christmas  here  when  the  King  was  in 
France  in  1347.  Richard  II.,  wlio  "  rc&ided  much  at  Eltham,  and  took 
great  delight  in  the  pleasantness  of  the  place,"  entertained  Leo,  King  of 
Armenia,  a  fugitive  from  the  Turks,  at  Christmas,  1386.  Froissart, 
here  a  frctiuent  guest,  records  how  on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  in  1364, 
Edward  and  Piiilippa  waited  at  the  gates,  to  receive  the  fallen  monarch ; 


Eltham  Palace.  13 1 

and  how,  between  that  time  and  supper,  in  his  honour  were  many 
grand  dances  and  carols,  at  which  the  young  Lord  de  Courcy  distin- 
guished himself  by  singing  and  dancing.  This  fascinating  young  noble- 
man contrived  to  win  and  wed  the  Princess  Royal  of  England. 
Froissart  mentions  a  secret  parliament,  or  rather  council,  which  was 
held  during  his  stay  at  the  palace.  It  was  while  wasting  his  time  at 
Eltham,  that  the  Parliament  sent  Richard  II.  a  bold  message  and  re- 
monstrance on  his  arbitrary  conduct.  Parliament  met  here  to  arrange 
the  King's  second  marriage  with  Isabella  of  Valois,  who  was  brought 
here  after  her  bridal,  and  set  out  fi'om  the  gates  to  her  coronation 
Henry  IV.  kept  his  last  Christmas  here  in  14 12,  when  he  feasted  in  fear, 
for  the  Duke  of  York,  so  report  ran,  designed  to  scale  the  walls,  and 
rob  him  of  life  and  crown  together;  and  here  he  actually  sickened  in 
death-like  trances  of  his  mortal  disease.  Two  years  afterwards, 
Henry  V.  made  great  prep;u-ations  for  feasting  at  Christmas,  but  sud- 
denly left  the  palace  in  consequence  of  an  idle  report  of  a  conspiracy  to 
assassinate  him,  in  which  Sir  John  Oldham  was  said  to  be  implicated. 
Henry  VI.  made  Eltham  his  principal  residence,  keeping  his  Christmas 
here  with  splendour  and  feasting  in  1429.  Yet,  in  this  palace  un- 
happy Henry,  unconscious  of  his  critical  position,  forsook  his  studies  to 
hunt  and  follow  field  sports,  under  the  watchful  eye  of  his  keeper,  the 
Earl  of  March,  while  his  wife  and  son,  for  whom  he  had  restored  the 
palace,  were  sheltered  :n  Harlech  Castle.  Edward  IV.,  to  his  great 
cost,  repaired  his  house  at  Eltham,  and  in  1482  kept  a  splendid 
Christmas  here,  wikh  great  feastings,  two  thousand  guests  feeding  at  his 
expense  every  day.  His  fourth  daughter,  the  Princess  Bridget  Planta- 
genet,  was  born  at  this  palace,  in  1480:  she  was  consigned,  when  little 
more  than  eight  years  of  age,  to  the  care  of  the  Abbess  of  Dartford 
Nunnery,  of  which  she  afterwards  became  the  Superior.  Edward  IV. 
is  the  first  So-vereign  on  record  who  built  any  part  of  Eltham  Palace, 
and  the  Hall  is  attributed  to  him.  Henry  VII.  built  a  handsome  front 
to  the  palace  towards  the  moat,  and  was  usually  resident  here  ;  and,  as 
appears  by  a  record  in  the  Office  of  Arms,  most  commonly  dined  in  the 
great  hall,  and  all  his  officers  kept  their  tables  in  it. 

Henry  VIII.,  in  1515  and  1527,  kept  his  Whitsuntide  and  Christmas 
at  Eltham ;  where,  in  the  former  year,  he  created  Sir  Edward  Stanley, 
banneret.  Lord  Monteagle,  for  his  services  against  the  Scots  at  Flodden 
Field.  Some  contagious  disorder  raging  at  that  time  in  London,  none 
were  permitted  to  dine  in  the  King's  hall  but  the  officers  of  arms,  who 
at  the  serving  of  the  King's  second  course  of  meat,  according  to  custom, 
came  and  proclaimed  the  King's  style  and  title,  and  also  that  of  the  new 

K   9 


132  Elthain  Palace. 

lord.  His  residence,  however,  was  only  occasional,  Greenwich  l)eing 
preferred,  where  "  the  emparked  groundes"  could  as  well  be  enjoyed  as 
at  Eltham.  The  bricks  which  had  been  provided  for  the  repair  of 
Eltham  Palace  were  taken  from  the  kilns  there,  and  used  in  the  im- 
provement and  extension  of  the  royal  residence  of  Placentia,  at  Green- 
wich. Queen  Elizabeth,  who  was  born  at  Greenwich,  was  frequently 
carried  thence  to  Eltham,  when  an  infant,  for  the  benefit  of  the  air ; 
and  she  visited  this  palace,  in  a  summer  excursion  round  the  country,  in 
1559.  Sir  Christopher  Hatton  was  Keeper  of  Eltham  palace  in  her 
reign  ;  and  after  him  Lord  Cobham,  who  had  a  grant  of  that  office  in 
1592.  The  palace  was  then  long  neglected,  but  it  was  not  finally  de- 
serted by  royalty  until  the  seventeenth  century,  James  I.  having  re- 
mained a  short  time  at  Eltham,  in  161 2,  which  is  the  last  authentic 
record  of  his  having  visited  it.  At  the  commencement  of  the  Civil 
War,  the  palace  was  in  the  occupation  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Essex,  the 
Parliamentary  General,  who  died  there,  September  13,  1646,  but  was 
buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.  In  1649,  '^^^''  ^'^  death  of  Charles  I., 
Eltham,  being  much  out  of  repair,  was  sold  for  the  materials,  valued  at 
2753/. ;  and  the  manor  and  entire  property  sold  to  different  persons,  the 
whole  of  which  reverted  to  the  Crown,  at  the  Restoration  in  1660. 

Eltham  Palace  was  quadrangular  in  plan,  and  surrounded  by  a  moat, 
and  external  wall.  The  entrance  was  on  the  north,  but  there  was  a 
drawbridge  on  the  south  side,  where  is  now  a  bank  of  earth.  The 
hall,  its  principal  feature,  rose  above  the  other  edifices ;  it  is  a  perfect 
specimen  of  the  great  Banqueting  Halls  of  the  15th  century,  and  was 
at  once  an  audience  chamber  and  refectory  of  grand  dimensions,  100 
feet  in  length,  55  feet  in  height,  and  36  feet  broad.  The  high-pitched 
roof  is  of  oak,  with  hammer-beams,  carved  pendants  and  braces,  sup- 
ported on  corbels  of  hewn  stone  ;  the  hearth  and  louvre  have  disappeared, 
out  there  arc  still  remains  of  the  minstrels'  gallery,  and  the  oak  screer. 
below  it,  with  doorways  leading  to  the  kitchen,  butteries,  and  cellars. 
More  than  a  century  ago,  tlie  hall  was  converted  into  a  barn.  Through 
the  influence  of  the  Princess  Sophia  of  Gloucester,  who  frequently  visited 
the  palace,  some  substantial  repairs  were  effcctal  at  a  cost  of  700/. 
Over  the  chief  entrances,  are  the  falcon,  the  fetterlock,  and  the  rose-en- 
tokil,  the  badges  of  tlie  royal  builder,  Edvvai-d  IV.,  who  is  represented 
by  Skelton,  as  saying : 

"  I  made  Nottingham  a  palace  royal, 
Windsor,  Eltham,  and  many  otlicr  mo'." 

The  elegant  pointed  windows  have  been  much  injured  from  being 
bricked  up,  to  exclude  the  weatlicr ;  delicate  tracery  is  mutilated,  and 


Skene,  or  Richmond  Palace.  133 

the  parapets  and  enrichments  have  disappeared.  The  framework  which 
supported  the  louvre  has  long  been  destroyed  ;  but,  as  the  hearth  was 
not  substituted  by  a  recessed  fire-place  in  the  side  wall,  it  is  probable  thac 
the  old  method  of  warming  the  room  was  adhered  to  till  its  desecration, 
and  that  afterwards  the  louvre  was  removed  as  useless. 

The  situation  of  Eltham  Palace  upon  an  elevated  site,  in  some 
measure  protected  it  from  any  sudden  attack,  whilst  a  series  of  subter- 
ranean passages  evinces  the  care  that  was  bestowed  in  providing 
means  for  the  security  of  the  royal  inmates,  in  case  of  treason  or 
other  emergency.  The  existence  of  a  series  of  underground  pas- 
sages running  in  the  direction  of  Blackheath  to  Greenwich  had  long  been 
popularly  believed ;  but  nothing  certiin  was  known  on  the  subject 
until  1834,  since  which  Messrs.  Clayton  and  King  have  explored  these 
military  stratagems  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  have  cleared  about  700 
feet  of  the  passages,  which  were  partially  filled  with  rubbish.  They 
descended  a  ladder  below  a  trap-door  in  the  yard  on  the  south  front  of 
the  hail,  and  entered  a  subterranean  room,  whence  a  narrow-arched  pas- 
sage, about  10  feet  in  length,  conducted  them  to  "  a  series  of  passages, 
with  decoys,  staii-s,  and  shafts,  some  vertical,  and  others  on  an  in- 
clined plane,  which  were  once  used  for  admitting  air,  and  for  hurling 
down  missiles  or  pitch-balls,"  with  deadly  effect  in  case  of  attack,  ac- 
cording to  the  mode  of  defence  practised  in  the  old  time.  The  remains 
of  two  iron  gates,  completely  carbonized,  were  found  in  the  passage 
under  the  moat.  There  is  a  tradition  that  at  Middle  Park,  through 
which  the  passages  are  believed  to  run,  there  are  underground  apartments 
of  sufficient  extent  to  accommodate  sixty  horses.  The  date  of  these 
passages  is  assigned  to  that  of  the  reign  of  Edward  II..  at  the  com- 
mencement  of  the  fourteenth  century. 


Shene,  or  Richmond  Palace. 

This  celebrated  palace  was  anciently  named  Sbene  or  Sheen  (Saxon 
resplendent),  from  its  delightful  situation.  It  was  subsequently  styled 
Rkhmotid,  by  command  of  King  Heniy  VII.,  who  inherited  the  earl- 
dom of  Richmond  in  Yorkshire  from  his  father,  Edmund  Tudor,  on 
whom  it  was  bestowed  by  his  half-brother,  Henry  VI.  The  manor 
was  given  by  Henry  I.  to  one  of  the  family  of  Belet,  to  hold  by  the 
service,  or  serjeantry,  of  officiating  as  chief  butler  to  the  King.  A 
palace  is  said  to  have  been  erected  on  his  manor  at  Shene  by 
Edwai-d  III.,  where  deatli  terminated  his  long  and  victorious  reign  on 


134  Skene,  or  Richmond  Palace, 

the  2ist  of  June,  1377.  His  grandson  and  successor,  Richard  11^ 
passed  most  of  his  time  at  this  place  during  the  hfe  of  his  first  Queen, 
Anne  of  Bohemia ;  and,  on  her  death,  which  happened  at  Shene,  in 
1394,  he  was  so  violently  afflicted  "  that  he  beside  cursing  the  place  where 
she  died,  did  also  for  anger  throwe  downe  the  buildings,  unto  which 
the  former  kings  being  wearied  of  the  citie  were  wont  for  pleasure  to 
resort."  The  palace  remained  in  ruins  during  the  reign  of  Henry  IV. ; 
but  Henry  V.,  soon  after  he  ascended  the  throne,  restored  the  edifice  to 
its  former  magnificence.  Thomas  Elmham  says  it  was  "  a  delightful 
mansion,  of  curious  and  costly  workmanship,  and  befitting  the  cha- 
racter and  condition  of  a  king."  In  the  sixth  year  of  Edward  IV.,  his 
Queen,  Elizabeth  Woodville,  had  a  grant  of  the  manor  for  her  life.  In 
1492,  Henry  VII.  held  a  grand  tournament  at  this  place,  when  in  a 
combat  between  Sir  James  Parker,  Knight,  and  Hugh  Vaughan,  Gentle- 
man Usher,  Sir  James  was  slain  at  the  first  course,  by  a  false  helmet 
being  stricken  into  his  mouth. 

On  the  2ist  of  December,  1498,  the  King  being  at  Shene,  a  fire  broke 
out  in  his  lodging  in  the  palace,  and  burnt  from  nine  o'clock  till  mid- 
night, destroying  a  great  part  of  the  old  buildings,  together  with  hang- 
ings, beds,  apparel,  plate,  and  many  jewels.  The  restoration  of  the 
palace  was  forthwith  commenced.  Another  fire  occurred  in  the  King's 
chamber  in  January,  1506-7,  when  much  rich  furniture  was  consumed; 
and  in  July  following,  a  new  galleiy,  in  which  the  King  and  his  son, 
Prince  Arthur,  had  been  walking  a  short  time  previously,  fell  down,  but 
without  injuring  any  person.  In  the  same  year,  Philip  I.  of  Spain,  who 
had  been  driven  on  the  coast  of  England  by  a  storm,  was  entertained  by 
King  Henry  at  Richmond,  "  where  many  notable  feates  of  armes  were 
proved,  of  tylte,  tourney,  and  bamers."  Henry  VII.  probably  had  a 
picture  gallery  and  libraiy  at  Richmond.  A  painting  of  Henry  V.  and 
his  family ;  the  Marriage  of  Henry  VI.,  and  that  of  Henry  VII. ;  which 
were  at  Strawberry  Hill,  are  supposed  to  have  been  painted  at  this  time 
as  decorations  for  the  palace.  Henry  VII.  died  here,  21st  of  April, 
1509.  Henry  VIII.  celebrated  his  Christmas  at  Richmond  in  the  year 
of  his  accession  to  the  throne;  and  on  January  19  following,  a  tourna- 
ment was  held  here,  when  the  King,  for  the  first  time,  publicly  engaged 
in  chivalrous  exercises.  On  New  Year's  day,  if,ii,  Queen  Katherine, 
at  Richmond  was  delivered  of  a  son,  who  was  baptized  1  Icnry,  after  his 
father;  but  on  February  23  he  died  at  his  birth-place,  and  was  interred 
at  Westminster.  Hall,  in  his  Chronicle,  says  that  the  Kmpcror 
Charles  V.,  who  visited  ICngland  in  1532,  was  lodged  at  Richmond. 
In  a  curious  account  of  this  visit,  provision  was  made  at  "  Rychemount" 


Skene  J  or  Richmond  Palcue,  135 

for  "  X  mealys,"  "  with  Gascon  wyne  and  Rhenyssh  wyne,  plentye." 
In  1526,  the  King  having  received  from  Cardinal  Wolsey  the  magnifi- 
cent present  of  his  newly-erected  palace  oi  Hampton  Court,  he  obtained 
in  return  permission  to  reside  at  Richmond.  This  excited  the  spleen  of 
Wolsey 's  enemies ;  when  the  common  people,  and  especially  such  as 
had  been  servants  to  Henry  VH.,  saw  the  Cardinal  keep  house  in  the 
manor  royal  of  Richmond,  which  that  monarch  so  highly  esteemed,  it 
was  a  marvel  to  hear  how  they  grudged,  saying — "  So,  a  butcher's  dogge 
doth  lie  in  the  manor  of  Richmond."  In  1541,  the  royal  demesnes  here 
were  granted  to  Anne  of  Cleves  (after  her  voluntary  divorce  from  King 
Henry),  so  long  as  she  should  reside  in  this  country.  In  August,  1554, 
Queen  Mary,  with  her  newly-wedded  consort,  Philip  of  Spain,  removed 
from  M'^indsor  (where  he  had  been  installed  a  Knight  of  the  Garter),  to 
this  palace  ;  and  some  of  the  State  Papers  show  that  she  was  here  at 
other  times.  Richmond  was  also  a  favourite  place  of  residence  with  her 
successor  Elizabeth,  who  here  entertained  Eric  the  Fourth,  King  of 
Sweden,  when  he  visited  England  to  make  her  a  proposal  of  marriage. 
It  was  in  this  palace  that,  in  1596,  Anthony  Rudd,  Bishop  of  St. 
David's,  incurred  Elizabeth's  displeasure,  by  preaching  before  the  Court 
on  the  infirmities  of  old  age ;  and  at  the  same  time  applying  his  re- 
marks personally  to  her  Majesty,  and  showing  how  time  had  "  furrowed 
her  face,  and  besprinkled  her  hair  with  the  meal."  But  a  few  years 
before,  being  then  at  Richmond,  she  was  so  fond  of  youthful  amuse- 
ments that  "  six  or  seven  gallyards  of  a  mominge,  besides  musycke  and 
Bynginge,  were  her  ordinary  exercise." 

Of  the  last  hours  of  Elizabeth,  who  died  here,  we  find  these  very  inte- 
resting records  in  the  Diary  ofjohn  Manninghamjafiu-student,  1602-3: 
— On  the  23rd  March,  the  rumours  respecting  her  Majesty's  health 
were  most  alarming.  The  public  were  even  doubtful  whether  she  was 
actually  alive.  In  satisfaction  of  his  curiosity  our  Diarist  proceeded  to 
the  palace  at  Richmond,  where  the  great  business  was  in  progress.  He 
found  assembled  there  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Lord  Keeper, 
and  others  of  the  highest  official  dignitaries.  The  Queen  still  lived,  and 
the  ordinary  daily  religious  services  were  still  kept  up  within  the  sombre 
palace.  Dr.  Parry  preached  before  the  assembled  visitors,  and  our 
Diarist  was  permitted  to  be  one  of  the  audience.  The  sermon  was  as 
little  connected  as  could  be  with  the  urgent  circumstances  which  must 
have  drawn  off  the  thoughts  of  his  congregation,  but  in  the  preacher's 
prayers  both  before  and  after  his  discourse  he  interceded  for  her  Majesty 
so  fei-vently  and  pathetically,  that  few  eyes  were  dry." 

Service  over,  Manningham  dined   in  the  privy  chamber  with  Dr. 


136  Skene,  or  Richmond  Palace. 

Parry  and  a  select  clerical  company,  who  recounted  to  him  the  particu- 
lars of  the  Queen's  illness ;  how  for  a  fortnight  she  had  been  over- 
whelmed with  melancholy,  sitting  for  hours  with  eyes  fixed  upon  one 
object,  unable  to  sleep,  refusing  food  and  medicine,  and  until  within  the 
last  two  or  three  days  declining  even  to  go  to  bed.  It  was  the  opinion 
of  her  physicians  that  if  at  an  early  period  she  could  have  been  per- 
suaded to  use  means  she  would  unquestionably  have  recovered ;  but  she 
would  not,  "and  princes,"  our  Diarist  remarks,  "must  not  be  forced." 
Her  fatal  obstinacy  brought  her  at  length  into  a  condition  which  was 
irremediable.  For  two  days  she  had  lain  "  in  a  manner  speechless,  very 
pensive  and  silent," — dying  of  her  own  perverseness.  When  roused,  she 
shewed  by  signs  that  she  still  retained  her  faculties  and  memory,  but  the 
inevitable  hour  was  fast  approaching.  The  day  before,  at  the  instance 
of  Dr.  Parry,  she  had  testified  by  gestures  her  constancy  in  the  Protes- 
tantism "  which  she  had  caused  to  be  professed,"  and  had  hugged  the 
hand  of  the  archbishop  when  he  urged  upon  her  a  hopeful  consideration 
of  the  joys  of  a  future  life.  In  these  particulars  our  Diarist  takes  us 
nearer  to  the  dying  bed  of  the  illustrious  Queen  than  any  other  writer 
with  whom  we  are  acquainted.  Dr.  Parry  remained  with  the  Queen  to 
the  last.  It  was  amidst  his  prayers  that  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning 
which  followed  Manningham's  visit  to  the  palace  she  ceased  to  breathe. 

Not  an  instant  was  lost ;  at  the  very  earliest  moment,  in  less  than 
four  hours  after  the  Queen  had  expired  at  Richmond,  a  meeting  of  the 
Council  was  held  at  Whitehall.  A  prcKlamation  already  prepared  by 
Cecil,  and  settled  by  the  anxious  King  of  Scotland,  was  produced  and 
signed.  At  ten  o'clock  the  gates  of  Whitehall  were  thrown  open. 
Cecil,  with  a  roll  of  paper  in  his  hand,  issued  forth  at  the  head  of  a 
throng  of  gentlemen,  and  with  the  customary  formalities  proclaimal  the 
accession  of  King  James. 

The  Plague  raged  greatly  in  London  at  the  time  of  the  accession  of 
James  I. ;  in  consecjuence  of  which  the  Excheiiuer  and  other  Courts  of 
Law  were  removed  to  Richmond ;  as  they  were  again,  on  the  same 
account  in  1625.  In  1610,  the  manor,  with  the  palace  and  park  was 
settled  on  Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  his  heirs  and  successors,  Kings  of 
England,  for  ever.  The  Prince  resided  at  Richmond  in  1605,  and  he 
kept  house  here  in  161 2,  in  which  year  his  death  took  place.  In  the 
accounth'  of  his  expenses  are  payments  to  De  Caus,  tlie  French  engi- 
neer, who  apfK'ars  to  have  been  employal  by  the  Prince  upon  works 
at  Richmond  House  and  S\:cne. 

In  1617,  the  royal  estate  at  Richmond  was  granted  to  Charles,  Prince 
of  Wales,  who  often  resided  here  after  he  became  King  {  and  had  here 


S/tene,  or  Richmond  Palace.  1 37 

a  large  collection  of  pictures.  In  1627,  the  estate  was  settled  on  the 
Queen,  Henrietta  Maria,  as  part  of  her  dower.  In  1636,  a  masque 
was  performed  before  the  King  and  Qiieen  at  Richmond,  by  Lord 
Buckhurst,  and  Edward  Sackville,  afterwards  Earl  of  Dorset.  After 
the  execution  of  the  King  in  1649,  a  survey  of  the  palace  was  taken, 
and  showed  thei-e  to  be  a  spacious  hall,  with  clock-turret ;  privy  lodg- 
ings, three  storeys  high,  ornamented  with  fourteen  turrets  ;  a  chapel, 
with  cathedral  seats  and  pews ;  the  privy  garden,  with  open  and  covered 
galleries,  &c.  The  palace  was  sold  to  Sir  Gregory  Norton,  a  member 
of  the  High  Court  of  Justice,  who  signed  the  warrant  for  the  execution 
of  Charles  I. ;  and  who,  probably,  resided  in  some  part  of  the  palace 
buildings.  Shortly  after  the  Restoration,  several  boats,  laden  with 
rich  and  curious  effigies,  formerly  belonging  to  Charles  I.,  were  brought 
from  Richmond  to  Whitehall.  On  the  restoration  of  the  Richmond 
estate  to  the  Queen-mother,  Sir  Edward  Villiers,  father  of  the  first 
Earl  of  Jersey,  had  a  grant  of  the  royal  house  and  manor,  which  he 
afterwards  re-leased  to  King  James  II.;  whose  son,  known  in  history 
as  the  Pretender,  was  (according  to  Burnet),  nursed  at  Richmond. 

Next,  in  the  year  1770,  the  manor  was  granted  to  Queen  Charlotte, 
George  III.'s  consort ;  from  which  grant  was  excepted  the  site  of  the 
palace,  then  held  under  lease  from  the  Crown  ;  nor  did  it  include  the 
royal  park,  inclosed  in  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  VVolsey  occasionally  re- 
sided in  the  lodge,  described  as  "  a  pleasant  residence  for  a  private  gentle- 
man." In  1 707,  Queen  Anne  demised  it  to  James,  Duke  of  Ormond,  who 
rebuilt  the  lodge,  and  resided  there  until  1 7 15,  when  having  been  impeached 
as  an  adherent  of  the  Pretender,  he  privately  withdrew  from  his  hous 
at  Richmond,  and  went  to  Paris.  In  1721,  the  property  was  sold  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards  George  II.,  who  frequently  retired  to  Rich- 
mond ;  and  his  Queen,  Caroline,  built  here  a  menagerie,  a  hermitage, 
and  a  mystic  "  Merlin's  Cave."  George  III.  occasionally  resided  here. 
Some  time  afterwards,  the  Lodge  was  taken  down,  and  the  foundations 
were  laid  for  a  new  palace;  but  the  building  was  not  proceeded  with. 
In  the  grounds  of  one  of  the  Lodges  in  the  Park  is  a  small  Mount, 
whereon  Henry  VIII.  is  reported  to  have  stood,  when  watching  the 
ascent  of  a  rocket  from  the  Tower,  to  announce  the  execution  of  Anne 
Boleyn ;  on  the  day  after  which,  Henry  was  wedded  to  Jane  Seymour. 
In  1834,  some  labourers,  when  digging  near  Oliver's  Mound  (where 
Cromwell  is  said  to  have  had  a  camp),  discovered  the  skeletons  of  three 
pei-sons,  buried  about  three  feet  from  the  surface.  There  is  no  lack  of  deer 
at  Richmond ;  the  venison  is  stated  to  be  the  finest  belonging  to  the  Crown  • 
and  about  sixty  brace  of  bucks  are  annually  supplied  from  this  park. 


138  Skene,  or  RicJunond  Palace. 

Different  religious  communities  were  founded  at  Shone ,-  as  a  Convent 
of  Carmelite  Friars,  by  Edward  II. ;  a  Priory  of  Carthusian  Monks,  by 
Henry  V.;  and  a  Convent  of  Observant  Friars,  by  Henry  VII 
Within  the  walls  of  the  Carthusian  convent,  Perkin  Warbeck  sought 
an  asylum,  entreating  the  prior  to  beg  his  life  of  the  King :  he  was  after- 
wards executed  for  attempting  to  break  out  of  the  Tower. 

On  Richmond  green  remains  the  entrance  gateway  to  the  Wardrobe 
Court  of  the  old  palace;  near  which  long  grew  a  noble  elm,  said  to  have 
been  planted  by  Queen  Elizabeth.  In  the  upper  chamber  of  the  gateway, 
it  is  absurdly  stated,  the  Countess  of  Nottingham,  when  on  her  deathbed, 
revealed  to  her  royal  mistress  the  treachery  of  which  she  had  been 
guilty  in  respect  of  the  Earl  of  Essex's  ring.  Whether  there  be  or  be 
not  any  truth  in  the  main  incident  (of  which  Hume  has  made  such 
pathetic  use,  in  his  account  of  the  last  days  of  Elizabeth),  this  was  cer- 
tainly not  the  place  of  the  Countess  of  Nottingham's  decease.  That 
event  took  place  at  Arundel  House,  London,  February  20,  1603 ;  as 
appears  from  the  register  of  Chelsea  parish,  where  she  was  buried  three 
days  afterwards. 

Elizabeth  was  deeply  lamented  by  her  people ;  indeed,  some  of  their 
expressions  of  regret  were  strangely  exaggerated.  A  poet  of  that  day 
asserts  even  that,  at  the  funeral  procession,  when  the  royal  corpse  was 
rowed  from  Richmond,  to  lie  in  state  at  Whitehall, 

"  Fish  wept  their  eyes  ol pearl  quite  out. 
And  swam  blind  after  ;' 

doubtlessly  intending,  most  loyally,  to  provide  the  departed  sovereign 
with  a  fresh  and  posthumous  supply  of  her  favourite  gems  !  Elizabeth 
seems  to  have  been  particularly  fond  of  pearls,  from  youth  even  to  her 
death.  The  now  faded  waxwork  efligy  preserved  in  \\'^cstminster 
Abbey  (and  which  lay  on  her  cofiin,  arrayed  in  royal  robes,  at  her 
funeral,  and  caused,  as  Stow  relates,  "  such  a  general  sighing,  groaning, 
and  weeping  as  the  like  hath  not  been  seen  or  known  in  the  memory  of 
man,")  exhibits  large  round  Roman  pearls  in  the  stomacher;  a  carcanet 
of  large  round  pearls,  Sec,  about  the  throat ;  her  neck  ornamented  with 
long  strings  of  pearls ;  her  high-heeled  slioc-bows  having  in  the  centre 
large  pearl  medallions.  Her  car-rings  are  circular  pearl  and  ruby  me- 
diillions,  with  large  pear-shaped  pearl  pendants.  This,  of  course,  repre- 
sents her  as  slic  was  dressed  towards  tiie  close  of  her  life.  At  Ham 
House  is  a  miniature  of  her,  however,  when  about  twenty,  which  shows 
the  same  tistc  as  existing  at  that  age.  She  is  there  portrayed  in  a 
black  dress,  trimmed  with  a  double  row  of  pearls ;  her  point-lace  ruffles 


Hampton  Court  Palace.  1 39 

are  looped  with  pearls,  &c.  Her  head-dress  is  decoiated  in  front  with 
a  jewel  set  with  pearls,  from  which  three  pear-shaped  pearls  depend. 
And  finally,  she  has  large  pearl-tasselled  ear-rings.  In  the  Henham- 
hall  portrait,  the  ruff  is  confined  by  a  collar  of  pearls,  rubies,  &c.,  set  in 
a  gold  filigree  pattern,  with  large  pear-shaped  pearls  depending  from 
each  lozenge.  The  sleeves  are  wreathed  with  pearls  and  bullion.  The 
lappets  of  her  head-dress  also  are  adorned  at  every  crossing  with  a  large 
round  white  pearl.  Her  gloves,  moreover,  were  always  of  white  kid, 
richly  embroidered  with  pearls,  &c.,  on  the  backs  of  the  hands. 

To  conclude,  a  view  of  the  Thames  front  of  Richmond  Palace  repre- 
sents a  long  line  of  iiTegular  buildings,  with  projecting  towers,  octagonal 
and  circular,  crowned  by  ill-shaped  turrets,  intemiixed  with  small 
chimneys,  having  somewhat  the  shape  of  inverted  pears. 


Hampton  Court  Palace. 

The  Manor  of  Hampton  was,  about  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  vested  in  the  Knights  of  St.  John  of  Jerusalem ;  and  early  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  VHI.  Cardinal  Wolsey  became  lessee  of  the  manor, 
under  the  Prior  of  that  foundation.  The  lease  is  followed  by  an  inven- 
tory of  the  furniture  left  in  the  ancient  mansion  on  the  estate  when 
Wolsey  took  possession:  his  name  is  spelt  Wulcy  in  the  lease,  which  is 
dated  Jan.  nth,  1514.  The  manorial  chase  was  of  vast  extent;  and 
here,  in  the  height  of  his  greatness,  Wolsey  built  his  sumptuous  palace, 
consisting  of  five  courts,  two  of  which  only  remain.  The  apaitments 
which  were  left  were  principally  domestic  ofhces;  so  that  we  can 
have  but  an  inadequate  conception  of  the  former  splendour  of  Hamp- 
ton Court,  except  from  prints.  The  Cardinal  employed  the  Warden 
and  certain  members  of  the  Freemasons  as  his  architects  in  building  his 
palace ;  and  the  accounts  of  the  expenses  are  presei'ved  in  our  public 
records.  In  removing,  in  1838,  one  of  the  old  towers  built  by  Wolsey, 
a  number  of  glass  bottles  were  dug  out  of  the  foundation :  they  were, 
probably,  buried  to  denote  the  date  of  the  building ;  and  bottles,  simi- 
larly placed,  have  been  found  in  comers  of  old  buildings,  both  at 
Windsor  and  Kingston-upon-Thames. 

The  grandeur  of  the  edifice,  or  some  other  cause,  of  which  we  have  no 
certain  account,  induced  Wolsey  to  resign  his  palace  to  Henry  VIII., 
in  the  year  15 16,  although  he  occasionally  resided  in  it  afterwards.  This 
was  the  last  instance,  in  this  country,  of  the  magnificence  of  the  house- 
hold establishment  of  a  priest,  w  ho  held  the  highest  offices  in  church  and 


140  Hampton  Court  Palace. 

state.  Here  Wolsey  lived  in  more  than  regal  splendour,  and  had  nearly 
one  thousand  persons  in  his  suite.  Henry  proceeded  with  the  building 
for  several  years,  and  it  subsequently  became  a  favourite  royal  residence. 

The  best  idea  that  can  be  formed  of  the  extent  of  the  old  palace  is  by 
passing  along  the  Tennis-court  lane,  and  inepecting  the  north  front,  fiom 
the  gateway  to  the  Tennis-court.  This  is  all  Wolseyan,  except  the  mo- 
dem windows.  The  chimneys — windpipes  of  hospitality— are  charac- 
teristic of  the  Cardinal's  housekeeping.  Each  of  the  fireplaces  is  large 
enough  to  roast  an  ox  whole.  The  attendants  were  not  allowed  to  enter 
the  kitchens,  as  each  of  them  has  a  large  square  opening,  communicating 
with  the  several  passages,  which  were  closed  until  the  dinners  were 
dressed,  when  a  large  wooden  flat  was  let  down  and  upon  it  were  placed 
the  dishes,  which  were  then  removed  by  servants  on  the  outside.  When 
we  consider  that  Wolsey's  palace  is  stated  to  have  contained  1500 
rooms,  we  shall  find  that  these  enormous  kitchens  and  fireplaces  were 
not  out  of  proportion  to  the  number  of  his  attendants  and  guests. 

The  springs,  locally  termed  the  Coombe  Water,  three  miles  distant 
from  Hampton  Court,  were  first  collected  into  a  conduit,  or  reservoir, 
and  then  conveyed  in  double  pipes  for  the  supply  of  the  palace,  by 
Wolsey ;  and,  as  the  top  of  that  building  is  considerably  below  the 
level  of  Coombe  Hill,  whence  the  springs  issue,  the  entire  palace  is 
amply  supplied  with  the  most  salubrious  water  by  little  aid  from  arti- 
ficial hydraulic  agency.  It  is  entirely  free  from  all  calcareous  admix- 
ture ;  and  for  its  efficiency  in  cases  of  stone  (under  which  painful  disease 
Wolsey  himself  is  well  known  to  have  suffered),  by  preventing  the 
formation  of  lithic  acid,  we  have  the  authority  of  Dr.  William  Roots, 
under  whose  house  at  Surbiton  the  spring  passes  just  prior  to  its  transit 
beneath  the  Thames. 

In  1527,  when  some  Fi-ench  ambassadors  were  in  England,  the  King 
sent  them  to  be  entertained  by  Wolsey  at  Hampton  Court.  Cavendish 
tells  us  of  the  preparations:  "expert  cookcs,  anil  connyng  persons  in 
the  art  of  cookerie ;  the  cookes  wrought  both  by  day  and  nigiit  with 
subtleties  and  many  crafty  devices,  whei-e  lacked  neither  gold,  silver,  nor 
other  costly  things;"  and  "  280  Iwds  furnished  with  all  manner  of  ur- 
niture."  Wolsey's  arrival  is  described  thus  quaintly:  "Before  th; 
second  course,  my  lord  Cardinal  came  in  all  booted  and  spurred  ;  at 
whose  coming  there  was  great  joy,  with  rising  every  man  from  his 
place,  whom  my  lord  caused  to  sit  still,  and  keep  their  roomes,  and 
being  in  his  apparel  as  he  rinle,  called  for  a  ciiayre,  and  sat  down  in  the 
middle  of  the  high  paradise,  laughing  ami  being  as  merry  as  ever  Caven- 
dish saw  him  in  all  his  life."    The  whole  party  drank  long  and  strong, 


Hampton  Court  Palace.  141 

and  some  of  the  Frenchmen  were  led  off  to  bed,  and  in  the  chambers  of 
all  was  placed  "  abundance  of  wine  and  beere." 

Edward  VI.  was  born  at  Hampton  Court,  and  his  mother,  Queen 
Jane  Seymour,  died  in  two  days  after  ;*  her  corpse  was  conveyed  by 
water  to  Windsor  for  burial.  Edward  VI.  resided  here,  but  in  such 
fear  of  his  person  being  seized,  that  the  inhabitants  of  Hampton  armed 
themselves  for  the  protection  of  the  young  King.  Catherine  Howard 
was  openly  shown  as  Queen  at  Hampton  Court.  Catherine  Parr  was 
here  married  to  Henry.  Philip  and  Mary  kept  Christmas  here,  1557, 
when  the  large  hall  was  illuminated  with  1000  lamps.  It  was  from  this 
place  that  passports,  signed  by  Queen  Mary,  but  not  filled  up,  were  in 
readiness  to  be  sent  off  to  announce  the  birth  of  a  son  or  daughter,  as 
the  case  might  be,  when  she  fancied  herself  with  child  ;  some  of  these 
passports  are  preserved  in  the  State  Paper  Office.  Queen  Elizabeth  fi-e- 
quently  resided  here,  and  gave  many  splendid  entertainments.  The 
celebrated  Conference  between  Presbyterians  and  the  Established 
Church  was  held  here  before  James  I.  as  moderator,  in  a  withdrawing- 
room  within  the  privy  chamber,  on  the  subject  of  Conformity :  all  the 
Lords  of  the  Council  were  present,  and  the  Conference  lasted  three 
days ;  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  was  ordered,  and  alterations  were 
made  in  the  Liturgy.  Charles  I.  retired  here  on  account  of  the  Plague, 
1625,  when  all  communication  between  London,  Southwark,  or  Lam- 
beth was  prohibited  by  proclamation. 

Charles  passed  his  honeymoon  here ;  and  here  he  displayed  some  of 
the  latest  external  appearances  of  being  a  king.  The  latter  period  ic 
thus  described :  "  The  King  was  now  come  to  Hampton  Court,  with 
the  Parliament  Commissioners,  at  this  time  attending  upon  him,  and 
some  of  the  army  for  his  guard.  He  dines  abroad  in  the  piesence- 
chamber,  with  the  same  duty  and  ceremonies  as  heretofore,  where  any 
of  the  gentry  are  admitted  to  kiss  his  hand.  After  dinner  he  retires  to  his 
chamber,  then  he  walks  into  the  park,  or  plays  at  Tennis.  Yesterday  he 
killed  a  stag,  or  a  buck,  and  dined  with  his  children  at  Sion,  where  they 
remain  as  yet ;  and  he  returned."  Charles  was  fond  of  Tennis :  he  played 
at  Hampton  Court  the  day  before  he  made  his  escape  to  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

There  is  a  singular  anecdote  of  the  King,  traditional  at  Hampton 
Court.  He  was  one  day  standing  at  a  window  of  the  palace,  sur- 
rounded by  his  children,  when  a  gipsy  came  up  and  asked  for  charity. 
Her  appearance  excited  ridicule,  and  probably  threats,  which  so  enraged 
the  gipsy,  that  she  took  out  of  her  basket  a  looking-glass,  and  presented 


•  Hentzner,  in  1598,  was  shown  the  bed  in  which  Queen  Jane  died. 


142  Hampton  Court  Palace. 

it  to  the  King :  he  saw  in  it  his  own  head  decollated.  Probably,  with  a 
natural  wish  to  propitiate  so  prophetical  a  beggar,  or  for  some  other 
reason,  money  was  given  her.  She  then  said  that  the  death  of  a  dog,  in 
the  room  the  King  was  then  in,  would  precede  the  restoration  of  the  king- 
dom to  his  family ;  which  the  King  was  about  to  lose.  It  is  supposed 
that  Oliver  Cromwell  afterwards  slept  in  the  room  referred  to.  He  was 
constantly  attended  by  a  faithful  dog,  who  guarded  his  bedchamber  door. 
On  awakening  one  morning  he  found  the  dog  dead,  on  which  he  exclaimed, 
in  allusion  to  the  gipsy's  prophecy,  which  he  had  previously  heard,  "The 
kingdom  is  departed  from  me."     Cromwell  died  soon  afterwards. 

In  1651,  the  Honour  and  Palace  of  Hampton  Court  were  sold  to  the 
State  creditors ;  but  previously  to  16.57  it  came  into  the  possession  of 
Cromwell,  who  made  it  one  of  his  chief  residences :  he  used  frequently 
to  hunt  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  a  part  of  Bushy  Park  was  formed  by 
him  into  a  preserve  for  hares.  Cromwell  is  said  to  have  built  the  old 
Toy  inn,  as  a  dormitory  for  his  roundhead  soldiers,  not  liking  to  admit 
them  into  the  palace.  Elizabeth,  his  daughter,  was  here  publicly 
married  to  the  Lord  Falconberg ;  and  the  Protector's  favourite  child, 
Mrs.  Claypole,  died  here,  and  was  conveyed  with  great  pomp  to  West- 
minster Abbey,  for  burial.  On  the  Restoration  of  Charles  H.,  the 
palace  was  given  to  George  Monk,  Duke  of  Albemarle,  who  had 
brought  about  that  event  without  bloodshed  or  confusion.  He  accepted 
a  sum  of  money  in  lieu  of  the  grant,  and  Charles  afterwards  occupied 
the  palace.  James  II.  occasionally  resided  here,  and  the  canopy  is  still 
to  be  seen  there,  under  which  he  received  the  Pope's  nuncio.  King 
William  lived  much  at  Hampton  Court:  he  had  it  enlarged  and  the 
pleasure-gardens  laid  out  in  the  Dutch  style.  In  July,  1689,  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  son  of  the  Princess,  afterwards  Queen  Anne,  was 
bom  here.  The  Queen  sojourned  at  Hampton  Court  occasionally;  as 
did  her  successors,  George  I.,  .ind  II.,  and  occasionally,  Frederick  Prince 
of  Wales;  but  George  III.  never  resided  here.  When  William  V., 
Stadtholder  of  the  United  Provinces,  was  condemned  to  quit  his  country 
by  the  French,  this  palace  was  appropriated  to  his  use,  and  he  resided 
here  several  years. 

In  the  bird's-eye  view,  by  Kipp,  the  palace  and  its  several  courts  are 
shown,  in  the  time  of  Qiieen  Anne,  with  its  gardens  laid  out  in  the  geo- 
metrical style  and  decorated  witli  fountains  and  statues,  its  kitchen- 
gardens,  Tennis-court,  &c. ;  the  chief  front  of  the  i)alace  facing  the 
Thames ;  the  formal  avenues,  radiating  from  the  centre,  with  the  canal 
formctl  by  Wolscy  through  the  middle  avenue.  King  William  pulled 
duwu  much  of  the  old  palace,  and  employed  Wren  to  build  the  Foun- 


Hampton  Court  Palace.  143 

tain  Court,  which  contains  on  the  south  the  State  Apartments,  and  the 
King's  Staircase,  painted  by  Verrio ;  and  on  the  north  the  King's 
Gallery,  originally  fitted  up  for  the  cartoons  of  Raphael.  On  the  east 
is  the  room  in  which  George  I.  and  George  II.  frequently  dined  in 
public.  Northwestward  of  the  Fountain  Court  is  the  Chapel,  part  of 
Henry  VIII.'s  building,  but  fitted  up  in  its  present  state  by  Queen  Anne, 
with  cai-ving  by  Gibbons. 

Hampton  Court  in  its  present  state  consists  of  three  principal  courts, 
and  exceeds  in  plan  any  of  the  royal  palaces.  The  first  court  is 
Wolsey's,  and  is  occupied  by  persons  who  have  grants  for  life  from  the 
Crown.  In  the  Middle  or  Clock  Court  is  an  astronomical  clock  put 
up  in  1540.  On  the  north  is  the  Great  Hall,  with  a  rich  timber- 
framed  roof,  screen,  and  part  of  the  gallery.  As  this  hall  is  not  men- 
tioned by  Cavendish,  it  was  probably  part  of  Henry's  building;  it 
certainly  was  not  finished  till  1536  or  1537,  as  appears  from  the  initials 
of  Henry  and  Jane  Seymour,  joined  in  a  true  lover's  knot,  among  the 
decorations.  Queen  Caroline  had  a  theatre  erected  here,  but  only  eight 
plays  were  performed  in  it.  The  walls  are  hung  with  tapestry,  and  the 
windows  have  armorial  painted  glass.  Adjoining  the  hall,  at  the  east 
end,  is  "  Wolsey's  Withdrawing-room,"  also  hung  with  tapestry  ;  and 
the  round  Kitchen  Court  is  of  Wolsey's  time.  An  unusually  large 
spider  is  found  in  the  palace,  and  called  "  the  Cardinal  Spider,"  from 
the  superstitious  notion  that  the  spirits  of  Wolsey  and  his  retinue  still 
haunt  the  palace  in  the  shape  of  spiders ! 

On  the  south  side  of  the  palace  is  the  Privy  Garden,  which  was  sunk 
ten  feet  to  open  a  view  from  the  apartments  to  the  Thames,  On  the 
northern  side  is  the  Tennis-court,  and  beyond  this  the  Wilderness  or 
Maze.  In  the  Privy  Garden  is  a  grape-house,  seventy  feet  in  length 
and  fourteen  in  breadth ;  the  interior  is  wholly  occupied  by  one  vine  of 
the  black  Hamburgh  kind ;  it  was  planted  in  the  year  1769,  and  has  m 
a  single  year  produced  2200  bunches  of  grapes,  averaging  one  pound 
each.  Here  too  is  the  orange-myrtle,  said  to  have  been  brought  to  thig 
coimtry  by  King  William  III. 

The  large  bay  window  in  the  Hall  has  a  strange  history.  It  was  upon 
a  pane  of  this  window  that,  during  one  of  the  festivals  given  there  by 
Henry  VIII.,  the  ill-fated  Earl  of  Surrey  wrote  with  a  diamond  the 
name  of  "fair  Geraldine,"  and  in  quaint  verse  commemorated  her 
beauty ;  a  license  which  is  said  to  have  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  King, 
and  to  have  been  one  among  many  other  causes  of  Surrey's  end  on  the 
scaffold.  So  runs  the  romantic  episode  in  his  unfortunate  life;  but 
Uiere  is  better  evidence  to  show  that  Surrey's  attachment  or  rather  ad- 


144  The  Palace  of  Nonsuch. 

miration,  was  only  encouraged  for  the  sake  of  rhyming — that  it  wan, 
indeed,  a  poetical  conceit,  and  that  other  circumstances  lessened  the 
soldier-poet  in  his  sovereign's  opinion,  although  the  real  cause  of  his 
condemnation  and  death  has  not  been  very  clearly  ascertained. 
Surrey,  describing  Geraldine,  says : 

"  Fosfer'd  she  was  with  milk  of  Irish  breast, 
Her  sire  an  earl,  her  dame  of  prince's  blood, 

From  tender  years  in  Britain  doth  she  rest 
With  kynge's  child,  where  tasteth  costly  food. 

Hundsdon  did  first  present  her  to  my  eyes  ; 
Bright  is  her  hue,  and  Geraldine  she  hight ; 

Hampton  me  taught  to  wish  her  first  for  mine." 

Walpole  considers  Geraldine  to  have  been  the  Lady  Elizabeth  Fitz- 
gerald, daughter  of  that  Earl  of  Kildare  vi\\o  died  a  prisoner  in  the 
Tower  in  the  year  1535,  and  one  of  the  maids  of  honour  to  the  Princess 
Mary.  When  Surrey  first  saw  her  he  was  married,  living  affectionately 
with  his  wife,  and  the  fair  Geraldine  was  a  mere  child,  thirteen  years 
of  age ;  Surrey  himself  was  in  his  twenty-fourth  year.  The  lady  was 
married  in  her  fifteenth  year  to  Sir  Anthony  Browne ;  but  Sun-ey  con- 
tinued to  rhyme,  without  offending  either  his  own  wife  or  the  lady's 
husband,  a  circumstance  which  serves  to  show  that  the  persons  most 
concerned  were  fully  aware  of  the  real  state  of  the  case. 


The  Palace  of  Nonsuch. 

This  royal  house,  which  Henry  VIII.  began  building  in  a  village 
called  Codintonc,  that  no  longer  exists,  obtained  its  name  from  its  un- 
paralleled beauty ;  Leland  sings,  in  Latin,  thus  translated : 

"  This,  because  it  has  no  equal,  Britons  are  accustomed  to 
praise,  and  call  by  name  the  Matchless,  or  Nonsuch." 

The  works  were  not  completed  at  the  death  of  Henry  VIII.,  in 
January,  1547,  and  they  remained  unfinished  during  the  reign  of  Philip 
and  Mary.  Henry,  Earl  of  Amndel,  "  for  the  love  and  honour  he  bare 
to  his  olde  maister,"  purchased  the  estate  of  Queen  Mary.  Queen 
Eli/abeth,  in  the  second  year  of  her  reign,  gave  Nonsuch  Great  Park  to 
the  Karl  of  Arundel  in  exchange  for  other  estates,  and  he  comjilcted  the 
buildings.  Nonsuch  was  in  the  Earl's  time  freijucntly  visited  by  Eliza- 
iK-tl),  and  subsequent  to  his  de.itij,  Her  Majesty  purchased  the  palace  and 
Little  Park;  and  in  tlie  latter  part  of  her  reign  she  passed  much  of  her 
tiau:  there.    It  was  at  Nonsuch  tlut  tlie  Eml  of  Essex,  the  Queen's  un* 


The  Palace  of  Nonsuch.  145 

fortunate  favourite,  had  the  remarkable  inter\'iew  with  Her  Majesty  on 
his  return  from  Ireland  in  September,  1599,  as  already  referred  to  at 
page  72. 

Camden  describes  Nonsuch  as  "  built  with  so  much  splendour  and 
elegance  that  it  stands  a  monument  of  art,  and  you  would  think  the 
whole  science  of  architecture  exhausted  on  this  building.  It  has  such  a 
profusion  of  animated  statues  and  finished  pieces  of  art,  rivalling  the 
monuments  of  ancient  Rome  itself,  that  it  justly  receives  and  maintains 
its  name  from  them.  The  house  is  so  surrounded  by  parks  so  full  of 
deer,  delicious  gardens,  artificial  arbours,  parterres,  and  shady  walks, 
that  it  seems  to  be  the  spot  where  Pleasure  chose  to  dwell  with  Health." 
Hentzner,  who  visited  England  in  1598,  adds:  "in  the  pleasure  and 
aj'tificial  gardens  are  many  columns  and  pyramids  of  marble,  with  two 
fountains  that  spout  water  one  round  the  other  like  a  pyramid,  upon 
which  ai'e  perched  small  birds  that  stream  water  out  of  their  bills.  In 
the  Grove  of  Diana  is  a  fountain  with  Actaeon  turned  into  a  Stag,  as 
he  was  sprinkled  by  the  Goddess  and  her  Nymphs,  with  inscriptions. 
There  is  besidea  another  pyramid  of  marble  fiill  of  concealed  pipes, 
which  spirt  upon  all  who  come  within  their  reach."  In  1650,  Nonsuch 
was  described  as  a  large  freestone  building,  two  stories  high,  em- 
battled and  slated,  and  surrounding  a  paved  court,  with  a  gatehouse, 
battled  and  turreted  at  every  comer;  also  a  curious  structure,  two 
stories  high,  richly  adorned  and  garnished  with  statues,  pictures,  and 
"  other  antick  forms."  On  the  east  and  west  corners  were  two  large 
turrets  of  five  storeys  high,  with  lanthoms,  commanding  prospects  of 
the  parks  of  Nonsuch,  and  most  of  the  country  round.  The  decorations 
of  the  gardens  and  fountains,  banqueting-house,  &c.,  are  likewise  de- 
scribed in  this  survey. 

James  I.  settled  Nonsuch  Palace  and  Parks  on  Anne  of  Denmark. 
Next  they  were  held  by  the  consort  of  Charles  I.  After  the  execution 
of  the  King,  in  1649,  a  lease  of  Nonsuch  was  granted  to  Algernon 
Sidney.  At  the  Restoration,  the  Queen  Dowager,  Henrietta  Maria,  re- 
covered possession.  In  the  Plague  year,  1665,  the  Exchequer  was 
removed  to  the  "Queen's  House"  at  Nonsuch;  and  next  year  it  was 
visited  by  Evelyn,  who  describes  the  plaster  statues  and  bas-relievos 
inserted  twixt  the  timbers  and  punchions  of  the  outside  walls  of  the  court ; 
which  were  the  work  of  some  celebrated  Italian,  and  had  lasted  well  and 
entire  since  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.:  some  were  as  big  as  the  life;  the 
story  of  the  Heathen  Gods,  emblems,  &c.  The  palace  consists  of  two 
courts — one  stone,  castle-like ;  the  other  timber,  Gothic,  covered  with 
"cales  of  slate  fastened  on  the  timber  in  pretty  figures.    There  stand  ia 


146  The  Palace  of  Oatlands. 

the  garden  two  handsome  stone  pyramids,  and  avenues  of  fair  elms ; 
but  the  rest  of  the  trees  were  felled  "  by  those  destructive  and  avaricious 
rebells  in  the  late  warr,  w'^''  defaced  one  of  the  stateliest  Seates  his  Ma*^ 
had." 

Pepys  says  of  Nonsuch :  "  A  fine  place  it  hath  heretofore  been,  all 
the  house  on  the  outside  being  filled  with  figures  of  stories,  and  good 
paintings  of  Rubens'  or  Holbein's  doing.  (?)  And  most  of  the  house 
is  covered,  I  mean  between  the  post  and  quarters  in  the  walls,  with  lead 
and  gilded." 

On  the  death  of  the  Queen  Dowager,  Aug.  10,  1669,  this  estate 
reverted  to  the  Crown ;  and  in  1670,  Charles  II.  demised  it  to  Sir  Robert 
Long,  who  had  been  Secretary  to  the  King  during  his  exile.  The  King 
conveyed  it  in  trust  to  his  mistress,  Barbara,  Countess  of  Castlcmaine, 
now  created  Baroness  of  Nonsuch,  Countess  of  Southampton,  and 
Duchess  of  Cleveland,  who  pulled  down  the  palace,  sold  the  materials, 
with  which  the  Earl  of  Berkshire  built  Durdans,  and  disparked  the 
land.  Among  the  noble  trees  of  the  domain  is  "  Queen  Elizabeth's 
Elm,"  beneath  whose  shade  she  is  said  to  have  taken  her  stand  when 
shooting  with  the  cross-bow  at  the  deer  in  the  park :  the  height  is 
eighty  feet.  Upon  part  of  the  estate  is  built  a  large  castellated  edifice, 
in  the  Elizabethan  style,  which  bears  the  name  of  Nonsuch. 


The  Palace  of  Oatlands. 

This  "royal  pleasure-house,"  built  by  Henry  VIII.,  lay  but  a  short 
distance  from  Cowey  Stakes,  the  point  at  which,  about  eighteen  centuries 
previously,  Cxsar  crossed  the  Thames  to  the  territories  of  Cassibelaunus. 
King  Henry  had  obtained  possession  of  Hampton  Court,  and  obtained 
in  exchange  Oatlands  to  annex  to  the  chace.  A  drawing  made  in  the 
time  of  Elizabeth  shows  Oatlands  palace  to  have  comprised  two  quad- 
rangular courts,  and  three  enclosures,  with  a  garden  beyond.  The 
second  or  principal  quadrangle  has  at  each  end  a  machicoiated  gate- 
house, with  angle  turrets  and  fine  bay-windows.  Queen  Elizabeth  was 
here  in  1599  and  1602,  when  she  is  said  to  have  shot  with  a  cross-bow 
in  the  paddock.  Anne  of  Denmark,  consort  of  James  I.,  was  also 
sometime  resident  at  Oatlands,  and  built  here  "  the  Silkworm  Room," 
which  may  have  been  ilesigned  by  Inigo  Jones.  Charles  I.  granted 
the  estate  for  life,  to  the  Queen  (Henrietta  Maria) ;  their  youngest 
son,  Henry,  created  Duke  i)f  Gloucester,  was  born  here  in  1640,  and 
was  hence  styled  llcnry  ofOatland*     Most  of  the  palace  buildings  wenr 


TJie  Palace  of  Oatlands,  147 

destroyed  (the  foundations  and  vaults  may  yet  be  traced),  and  the  land 
was  disparked,  during  the  interregnum ;  but,  after  the  Restoration  of 
Charles  II.,  the  Queen  Dowager  regained  possession  of  Oatlands,  in  the 
dilapidated  state  to  which  it  had  been  reduced.  In  166 1,  it  was  leased 
to  Henry  Jermyn,  Earl  of  St.  Alban's,  the  favourite,  and  afterwards  the 
second  husband  of  the  said  Queen  (see  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys,  2nd 
edit.)  In  17 16,  it  became  the  property  of  Henry,  Earl  of  L-icoln, 
whose  son  and  heir  formed  the  gardens,  about  1725  ;  and  he  most  pro- 
bably erected  the  house  on  the  terrace.  On  the  side  of  the  park  next 
Walton-on-Thames  is  an  arched  gateway,  which  was  built  by  Inigo 
Jones.  The  estate  next  became  the  property  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle, 
who  had  constructed  here  a  grotto,  at  a  considerable  expense,  by  three 
persons,  a  father  and  two  sons,  who  are  reported  to  have  been  employed 
on  the  work  several  years ;  the  sides  and  roof  of  the  apartments  are 
incrusted  with  satin-spar,  sparkling  ores,  shells,  crystals,  and  stalactites. 
Oatlands  was  next  sold  to  the  Duke  of  York ;  in  1 793,  the  house 
was  destroyed  by  fire,  while  the  Duke  was  in  Flanders  ;  when  the 
Duchess  and  her  servants  escaped  with  difficulty.  A  new  house  was 
built,  and  the  estate  enlarged :  after  the  Duke's  death,  the  estate  was 
sold,  and  eventually  disparked. 

In  the  upper  chamber  of  the  grotto  the  Duchess  of  York  passed 
much  of  her  time  when  the  Duke  was  in  Flanders.  Her  Royal  High- 
ness had  an  eccentric  taste  for  keeping  pet-dogs,  and  near  the  grotto 
there  were  between  sixty  and  seventy  small  upright  stones,  inscribed 
with  the  names  of  an  equal  number  of  dogs,  which  were  buried  here  by 
direction  of  the  Duchess:  she  extended  her  kindness  even  to  the  rooks, 
which,  when  driven  from  the  neighbouring  fields,  experienced  a  marked 
protection  on  this  demesne,  where,  finding  themselves  in  security,  they 
soon  established  a  flourishing  rookery.  This  humane  trait  in  the  cha- 
racter of  the  Duchess  was  thus  commemorated  by  Lord  Erskiust 

••At  Oatlands,  where  the  buoyant  air 
Vast  crowds  of  Rooks  can  scarcely  bear* 
What  verdure  paints  returning  spring ! 
What  crops  surrounding  harvests  bring  I 
Yet  swarms  on  every  tree  are  found, 
Nor  hear  the  Fowler's  dreaded  sound. 
And  when  the  Kite's  resistless  blow 
Dashes  their  scattered  nests  below, 
Alarmed,  they  quit  the  distant  field, 
To  seek  the  Park's  indulgent  shield ; 
Where  close  in  the  o'ershadowing  wood 
They  build  new  castles  for  ^eir  brood. 
Secure,  their  fair  Protectress  nigh, 
Whose  bosom  swells  with  sympathy." 

L  Z 


148  Sf.  James's  Palace. 

Henry  of  Oatlands,  so  Fuller  had  heard  him  called  in  his  cradle, 
has  been  described  as  a  prince  of  promising  hopes,  who,  at  the  last 
interview  which  the  ill-fated  King  (Charles  I.)  had  with  his  children, 
"displayed  an  understanding  and  sensibility  far  beyond  his  years." 
Fuller  quaintly  remarks,  that  "  he  had  a  great  appetite  for  learning,  and 
a  quick  digestion,  able  to  take  as  much  as  his  tutors  could  teach  him. 
He  fluently  could  speak  many,  undei-stand  more  modem  tongues; 
and  was  able  to  express  himself  in  matters  of  importance  presently, 
troperly,  solidly,  to  the  admiration  of  such  who  trebled  his  age."  Dr. 
South  relates  that  "  a  certain  Lawyer,  a  great  confidant  of  the  rebels 
in  the  time  of  their  reign,  upon  a  consult  held  amongst  them,  how  to 
dispose  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  then  in  their  hands,  with  great 
gravity  (forsooth)  declared  it  for  his  opinion,  '  that  they  should  bind 
him  out  to  some  good  Trade,  so  that  he  might  eat  his  bread  honestly.' " 
He  was,  however,  "  permitted  to  depart  the  land,  with  scarce  tolerable 
accommodations,  and  the  promise  of  a  (never-performed)  Pension  for 
his  future  support."  South  adds:  "Those  were  his  words,  and  very 
extraordinary  they  were  indeed.  Nevertheless  they  could  not  hinder  him 
from  being  made  a  Judge  in  the  reign  of  King  Charles  II. — A  Practice 
not  unusual  in  the  Courts  of  some  Princes,  to  encourage  and  prefer  their 
mortal  enemies  before  their  honest  Friends."  On  the  Restoration,  in 
1660,  Henry  returned  to  England  with  his  brothers;  but  he  died  at 
Whitehall  on  September  13th,  following,  of  the  small-pox,  "  by  the 
great  negligence  of  the  doctors."  Pcpys  saw  the  King  in  Whitehall 
gardens,  in  purple  mourning  for  his  brother."  He  was  interred  in 
Henry  VII.'s  Chapel  at  Westminster,  whither  his  remains  were  con- 
Tcyed  by  water  from  Somerset  House. 


St.  James's  Palace. 

This  Palace,  more  remarkable  for  its  historical  associations  than  for  its 
architectural  character,  is  situate  on  the  north  side  St.  James's  Park,  and 
occupies  the  site  of  a  hospital,  founded  prior  to  the  Norman  Conquest, 
for  leprous  females,  and  dedicated  to  St.  James ;  it  was  endowed  by 
the  citi/cns  with  lands,  and  Edward  I.  granted  to  the  foundation  the 
privilege  of  an  annual  Fair,  to  be  held  on  the  eve  of  St.  James  and  six 
following  days.  The  house  was  relniilt  by  lierkynge,  abbot  of  West- 
minHtcr,  in  Henry  Ill.'sreign:  and  its  perpetual  custody  was  granted 
by  Henry  VI.  to  Eton  College.  Henry  VIII.  obtained  tiie  hospital  in 
exchange  fur  Chatlishani  and  other  lands  in  Sullolk :  he  then  dismissed 


St.  Jameses  Palace.  149 

the  inmates,  pensioned  the  sisterhood ;  and  having  pulled  down  the 
ancient  structure,  "  purchased  all  the  meadows  about  St.  James's,  for  a 
parke."  "The  Manor  House,"  as  it  was  then  called,  is  believed  to  have 
been  planned  by  Holbein,  and  built  under  the  direction  of  Cromwell, 
Earl  of  Essex.  Henry's  gatehouse  and  tuiTcts  face  St.  James's-street. 
It  was  occasionally  occupied  by  Henry  as  a  semi-rural  residence,  down 
to  the  period  when  Wolsey  surrendered  Whitehall  to  the  Crown. 
Edward  and  Elizabeth  rarely  resided  at  St.  James's :  but  Mary  made  it 
the  place  of  her  gloomy  retirement  during  the  absence  of  her  husband, 
Philip  of  Spain :  here  she  expired.  The  Manor  House,  with  all  its 
appurtenances,  except  the  park  and  the  mews,  were  granted  by  James  I. 
to  his  son  Henry  in  1610  ;  at  whose  death,  in  161 2,  they  reverted  to 
the  Crown.  Charles  I.  enlarged  the  palace,  and  most  of  his  children 
(including  Charles  H.)  were  born  in  it.  In  the  chapel  of  the  hospital, 
Charles  I.  attended  divine  service  on  the  morning  of  his  execution, 
and  "  from  hence  the  king  walked  through  the  Park,  guarded  with 
a  regiment  of  foot  and  partisans,  to  Whitehall."  The  Queens  Chapel 
was  built  for  Catherine  of  Braganza,  who  first  heard  mass  there  on 
Sunday,  September  21st,  1662,  when  Lady  Castlemaine,  though  a  Pro- 
testant, and  the  King's  avowed  mistress,  attended  her  as  one  of  her 
maids  of  honour.  Pepys  describes  "  the  fine  altar  ornaments,  the  fiyers 
in  their  habits,  and  the  priests  with  their  fine  crosses." 

At  "  St.  James's  House"  Monk  resided  while  planning  the  Restora- 
tion. In  the  old  bedchamber,  now  the  ante-chamber  to  the  levee- 
room,  was  born  James  (the  old  Pretender),  the  son  of  James  II.  by 
Mary  of  Modena :  the  bed  stood  close  to  the  back  stairs,  and  favoured 
the  scandal  of  the  child  being  conveyed  in  a  warmin|-pan  to  the  Queen's 
bed.  During  the  Civil  Wars,  St.  James's  became  the  prison-house,  for 
nearly  three  years,  of  the  Duke  of  York  and  Duke  of  Gloucester  and 
the  Princess  Elizabeth:  on  April  20,  1648,  the  Duke  of  York  escaped 
from  the  palace-garden  in  the  Park,  through  the  Spring  Garden,  to  a 
hackney-coach  in  waiting  for  him ;  and  in  female  disguise,  he  reached  a 
Dutch  vessel  below  Gravesend.  After  the  Restoration,  the  Duke 
occupied  St.  James's  ;  here  the  Duke  slept  the  night  before  his  coro- 
nation, and  next  morning  proceeded  to  Whitehall.  On  December 
18,  16S8,  William  Prince  of  Orange  came  to  St.  James's,  where, 
three  days  afterwards,  the  peers  assembled,  and  the  household  and 
other  officers  of  the  abdicated  sovereign  laid  down  their  badges.  Evelyn 
says :  "  All  the  world  goes  to  see  the  Prince  at  St.  James's,  where 
there  is  a  greate  court.  There  I  saw  him :  he  is  very  stately,  serious, 
and  reserved."    King  William  occasionally  held  councils  here :  but  it 


I5C  St.  Jameis  Palace. 

»ras  not  until  after  the  burning  of  Whitehall,  in  1697,  that  this  Palace 
became  used  for  state  ceremonies,  whence  dates  the  Court  of  St.  James's. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  apartments  is  the  Tapestry  Room,  hung 
with  gorgeous  tapestry  made  for  Charles  II.,  and  representing  the 
amours  of  Venus  and  Mars.  The  stone  Tudor  arch  of  the  fire- 
place is  sculptured  with  the  letters  H.  A.  (Henry  and  Anne  Boleyn), 
united  by  a  true  lover's  knot,  surmounted  by  a  regal  crown  ;  also  the 
lily  of  France,  the  Tudor  portcullis,  and  the  rose  of  Lancaster. 

Scandalous  stories  are  related  of  the  conduct  of  the  mistresses  of 
George  I.  and  II.  in  St.  James's  Palace.  The  Duchess  of  Kendal,  the 
German  mistress  of  King  George  I.,  and  Miss  Brett,  the  English 
mistress  of  the  same  King,  had  apartments  there;  the  Duchess  of 
Kendal's  rooms  were  on  the  ground-floor  towards  the  garden.  Three 
of  the  King's  grand-daughters  were  lodged  in  the  palace  at  the  same 
time;  and  Anne,  the  eldest,  a  woman  of  most  imperious  and  ambitious 
nature,  soon  came  to  words  with  the  English  mistress  of  her  grand- 
father. When  the  King  set  out  for  Hanover,  Miss  Brett,  it  appears, 
ordered  a  door  to  be  broken  out  of  her  apartment  into  the  palace 
garden.  The  Princess  Anne,  offended  at  her  freedom,  and  not  choos- 
ing such  a  companion  in  her  walks,  ordered  the  door  to  be  walled  up 
again.  Miss  Brett  as  promptly  reversed  that  command;  and  while 
bricks  and  words  were  bandied  about,  the  King  died  suddenly,  and 
the  empire  of  the  imperious  mistresses  was  at  an  end. 

Mrs.  Howard  (afterwards  Countess  of  Suffolk),  the  mistress  of 
George  II.,  had  apartments  here,  the  same  formerly  occupied  by  the 
Duchess  of  Kendal.  The  King  was  not  allowed  to  retain  undisturbed 
possession  of  his  mistress.  Mr.  Howard  went  one  night  into  the  quad- 
rangle of  St.  James's,  and  before  the  Guards  and  other  audience  voci- 
ferously demanded  his  wife  to  be  restored  to  him.  He  was,  however, 
Boon  thrust  out,  and  just  as  soon  soothed — selling  (as  Walpole  had 
heard)  his  noisy  honour  and  the  possession  of  his  wife  for  a  pension  of 
1 20c/.  a  year. 

Sometimes  these  strange  doings  were  checked.  The  Queen  had  an 
obscure  window  at  St.  James's,  that  looked  into  a  dark  passage,  lighted 
only  by  a  single  lamp  .it  night,  which  looked  upon  Mrs.  Howard's 
apartment.  Lord  Chesterfield,  one  Twelfth  Night  at  Court,  had  won 
so  large  a  sum  of  money,  that  he  thought  it  imprudent  to  carry  it 
home  in  the  dark,  and  deposited  it  with  the  mistress.  Thence  the 
Queen  inferred  great  intimacy ;  and  afterwards,  Lt)rd  Chesterfield 
could  obtain  no  favour  at  Court  j  and  finding  himself  desperate,  went 
into  uppositiun. 


151 


Kensington  Palace, 

Though  named  from  the  adjoining  town,  is  situated  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Margaret,  Westminster.  The  original  mansion  was  purchased  (with  the 
grounds,  six  acres)  by  King  William  III.,  in  1691,  of  Daniel  Finch, 
second  Earl  of  Nottingham.  In  the  following  November  the  house  was 
nearly  destroyed  by  fire,  and  the  King  narrowly  escaped  being  burned 
in  his  bed.  After  Sir  Heneage  Finch's  advancement  to  the  peerage,  the 
mansion  was  called  "  Nottingham  House,"  of  which  the  north  wing  is 
part.  King  William  held  councils  in  this  palace ;  its  decoration  was  the 
favourite  amusement  of  Queen  Mary ;  and  it  was  next  fitted  up  for 
Queen  Anne,  for  whom  was  built  the  Banqueting  House,  in  the  gar- 
dens. George  II.  and  Queen  Caroline  passed  most  of  their  time  here. 
In  the  palace  died  Queen  Mary  and  King  William ;  Queen  Anne  and 
Prince  George;  and  George  II.  Some  of  the  State  Apartments  are 
hung  with  tapestry,  and  have  painted  ceilings,  and  carvings  by  Gibbons. 
The  closet  of  William  III.  contained  his  writing-table  and  escritoire; 
and  the  Patchwork  Closet  had  its  walls  and  chairs  covered  with  ta- 
pestry, worked  by  Queen  Mary,  During  the  reign  of  George  III.  the 
palace  was  forsaken  by  the  Sovereign,  The  Princess  of  Wales  and  her 
aged  mother  resided  here.  Queen  Victoria  was  bom  here,  and  held 
here  her  first  Council. 

At  Kensington  Palace  the  Princess  Victoria  received  the  intelligence 
of  the  death  of  William  IV.,  as  described  in  the  Diaries  of  a  Lady  of 
Quality:  "June,  1837.  On  the  20th,  at  2  A.M.,  the  scene  closed,  and 
in  a  very  short  time  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  Lord  Conyng- 
ham,  the  Chamberlain,  set  out  to  announce  the  event  to  their  young 
Sovereign.  They  reached  Kensington  Palace  at  about  five ;  they  knocked, 
they  rang,  they  thumped  for  a  considerable  time  before  they  could  rouse 
the  porter  at  the  gates ;  they  were  again  kept  waiting  in  the  courtyard, 
then  turned  into  one  of  the  lower  rooms,  where  they  seemed  forgotten 
by  everybody.  They  rang  the  bell,  desired  that  the  attendant  of  the 
Princess  Victoria  might  be  sent  to  inform  H.R.H.  that  they  requested 
an  audience  on  business  of  importance.  After  another  delay,  and 
another  ringing  to  inquire  the  cause,  the  attendant  was  summoned,  who 
stated  that  the  Princess  was  in  such  a  sweet  sleep  she  could  not  venture 
to  disturb  her.  Then  they  said,  '  We  are  come  to  the  Queen  on  business 
of  State,  and  even  her  sleep  must  give  way  to  that.'  It  did :  and  to 
prove  that  she  did  not  keep  them  waiting,  in  a  few  minutes  she  came 
into  the  room  in  a  loose  white  nightgown  and  shawl,  her  nightcap 


152  Carlton  House. 

thrown  off,  and  her  hair  falling  upon  her  shoulders — her  feet  in  slippert, 
tears  in  her  eyes,  but  perfectly  collected  and  dignified. 

"  The  first  act  of  the  reign  was  of  course  the  summoning  of  the 
Council,  and  most  of  the  summonses  were  not  received  till  after  the 
early  hour  fixed  for  its  meeting.  The  Queen  was,  upon  the  opening  of 
the  doors,  found  sitting  at  the  head  of  the  table.  She  received  first  the 
homage  of  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  who,  I  suppose,  was  not  King  of 
Hanover  when  he  knelt  to  her ;  the  Duke  of  Sussex  rose  to  perform  the 
same  ceremony,  but  the  Queen,  with  admirable  grace,  stood  up,  and, 
preventing  him  from  kneeling,  kissed  him  on  the  forehead.  The  crowd 
was  so  great,  the  an-angements  were  so  ill-made,  that  my  brothei-s  told 
me  the  scene  of  swearing  allegiance  to  their  young  Sovereign  was  more 
like  that  of  the  bidding  at  an  auction  than  anything  else." 

Kensington  Gardens,  "not  exhilarating,  yet  alive  and  pleasant," 
contain  some  interesting  memorials:  the  old  sun-dial,  attributed  to 
Gibbons,  was  stolen  in  1855. 

Carlton  House. 

This  royal  mansion,  which  existed  little  more  than  a  century,  occupied 
that  portion  of  Waterloo-place  which  is  south  of  Pall  Mall.  It  was 
originally  built  for  Lord  Carlton,  in  1 709 :  bequeathed  by  him  to  his 
nephew.  Lord  Burlington,  the  architect,  and  purchased,  in  1732,  by 
Frederic  Prince  of  Wales,  father  of  George  IIL:  here  the  Princess  of 
Wales  died  in  1772.  Kent  laid  out  the  grounds  for  Lord  Burlington : 
they  extended  along  the  south  side  of  Pall  Mall,  and  are  said  to  have 
been  in  imitation  of  Pope's  garden  at  Twickenham,  with  numerous 
bowers,  grottoes,  and  terminal  busts.  The  property  was  assigned  as 
the  residence  of  the  Prince— afterwards  George  IV. — in  1783,  when 
great  alterations  were  made  under  Holland. 

Horace  Walpole  writes,  Sept.  17,  1785:  "We  went  to  see  the 
Prince's  new  palace  in  Pall  Mall,  and  were  channed.  It  will  be  the 
most  perfect  in  Europe.  There  is  an  august  simplicity  that  astonished 
me.  You  cannot  call  it  magnificent ;  it  is  the  taste  and  propriety  that 
strike.  Every  ornament  is  at  a  proper  distance,  and  not  one  too  large, 
but  all  delicate  .'uid  new,  with  more  freedom  and  variety  than  Greek 
ornaments  [designed  by  Gobert]  .  .  .  and  there  are  three  most  spacious 
apartments,  all  looking  on  the  lovely  garden,  a  terreno,  a  state  apart- 
ment, and  an  attic.  The  portico,  vestibule,  hall,  and  staircase  will 
Ik-  hupnb,  and,  to  my  taste,  full  of  perspectives:  the  jewel  of  all  is  a 
•ouU  music-room,  that  opens  into  a  green  r'-vuss,  and  winding  walk  of 


Archiepiscopal  Palace,  Croydon.  153 

the  gardens.  In  all  the  fairy  tales  you  have  seen,  you  never  v?as  in 
so  pretty  a  scene,  Madam  [Countess  of  Ossory].  I  forgot  to  tell  you 
how  admirably  all  the  carving,  stucco,  and  ornaments  are  executed; 
but  whence  the  money  is  to  come  I  conceive  not,  all  the  tin  mines  in 
Cornwall  could  not  pay  a  quarter.  How  sick  one  shall  be  after  this 
chaste  palace  of  Mr.  Adam's  gingerbread  and  sippets  of  embroidery !" 

The  main  front  had  a  central  Corinthian  portico.  The  most  impor- 
tant point  for  notice  as  to  the  interior  of  Carlton  House,  is  the  absence 
of  the  Louis  Quinze  style.  The  Carlton  House  chair  and  table  are  re- 
membered. The  conservatory,  said  to  be  in  imitation  of  a  cathedral,  or 
Henry  VII.'s  chapel,  was  equally  suggestive  of  Roslyn  Chapel :  the  ribs  of 
the  fan-tracery  filled  in  with  stained  glass. 

Here  was  a  remarkably  fine  collection  of  arms  and  costumes,  includ- 
ing two  swords  of  Charles  I. ;  swords  of  Columbus  and  Marlborough, 
and  a  couteau-de-chasse  used  by  Charles  XH.  of  Sweden.  Carlton 
House  was  sumptuously  furnished  for  the  Prince's  ill-starred  marriage: 
here  was  born  the  Princess  Charlotte.  The  ceremonial  of  conferring 
the  Regency  was  enacted  at  Carlton  House  with  great  pomp  in  181 1, 
and  on  June  19  following,  the  Prince  Regent  gave  here  a  superb  supper 
to  2000  guests ;  a  stream  with  gold  and  silver  fish  flowing  through  a 
marble  canal  down  the  centre  table.    In  1827  the  palace  was  removed. 


The  Archiepiscopal  Palace,  Croydon. 

The  manor  of  Croydon  is  stated  to  have  been  given  by  William  the 
Conqueror  to  Archbishop  Lanfranc,  who  is  supposed  to  have  founded 
the  archiepiscopal  palace;  though  Robert  Kilwardby  is  the  first  prelate 
who  is  certainly  known  to  have  resided  at  Croydon,  whence  he  dated, 
September  4th,  1273,  a  mandate  for  holding  a  convocation  at  the  New 
Temple,  ir  London.  Several  succeeding  prelates,  in  the  same  and  the 
following  century,  were  occasionally  resident  here;  and  among  them 
Archbishop  Courtney,  who  received  the  pall  with  great  solemnity  in 
the  principal  chamber,  or  great  hall,  of  his  manor  of  Croydon,  May  14, 
1382.  Thomas  Arundel,  the  next  archbishop,  probably  built  the 
guard-chamber,  which  bears  his  arms:  in  his  custody  King  James  I.  of 
Scotland  was  detained  here.  Cardinal  Stafford,  who  obtained  the  see 
in  1443,  either  rebuilt  or  repaired  the  great  hall.  Archbishop  Cranmer 
also  repaired  the  palace.  During  his  prelacy,  Croydon  became  the 
scene  of  the  trial  or  judicial  examination  of  John  Frith,  accused  of 
heresy  before  Cromwell,  Cranmer,  and  others,  for  maintaining  certain 
doctrines  which  the  archbishop  himselt^  secretly,  and  afterwards  openly. 


154  Archiepiscopal  Palace,  Croydon. 

professed.  Frith,  refusing  to  recant,  was  burnt  in  Smithfield,  July  22, 
1534.  Cranmer  is  said  to  have  had  no  hand  in  the  Bill  of  Attainder 
against  the  Duke  of  Norfolk;  but  recent  historians  prove  that  Cranmer, 
after  being  present  in  the  House  of  Lords  on  the  three  several  days  on 
which  the  iniquitous  Bill  against  the  Duke  was  read,  had  retreated  for 
quiet  to  Croydon,  where  he  was  when  he  received  a  summons  to  attend 
his  royal  master  in  his  last  agonies. 

Archbishop  Parker  entertained  Queen  Elizabeth  at  his  palace  of 
Croydon  for  seven  days  in  July,  1573.  In  April  1587,  Sir  Christopher 
Hatton  was  appointed  Lord  Chancellor,  through  the  recommendation 
of  Archbishop  Whitgift,  and  the  Great  Seal  was  delivered  to  him  ii 
the  gallery  of  the  palace  at  Croydon.  During  the  interregnum,  the 
palace  and  lands  were  let,  for  forty  pounds  a  year,  to  Charles,  Earl  of 
Nottingham.  In  1652,  the  estate  was  granted  to  Sir  William  Brereton, 
Bart.,  who  died  1661 :  while  he  held  the  palace,  it  was  said  that  he  was 
'•a  notable  man  at  a  thanksgiving-dinner,  having  terrible  long  teeth, 
and  a  prodigious  stomach,  to  turn  the  Archbishop's  chapel  into  a  kit- 
chen, and  to  swallow  up  that  palace  and  lands  at  a  morsel." 

After  the  Restoration,  Archbishop  Juxon  repaired  and  restored  the 
palace.  Archbishop  Herring  vastly  improved  and  adorned  it :  he  was 
the  last  prelate  who  resided  at  Croydon ;  and  the  palace  having  been 
deserted  for  more  than  twenty  years,  became  greatly  dilapidated,  was 
sold  in  1780,  and  the  mansion  and  estate  of  Addington  Park  were  pur- 
chased in  lieu  of  it. 

Croydon  Park  was  held  by  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury :  among 
the  Keepers  was  William  Walworth,  Mayor  of  London,  who  contri- 
buted greatly  to  the  extinction  of  the  rebellion  of  Wat  Tyler,  in  the 
reign  of  Richard  II.  Walworth  was  appointed  to  the  Kecpership  by 
Archbishop  Courtney  in  1382.  In  Croydon  church,  founded  in  the 
Saxon  era,  are  monuments  to  several  Archbishops  of  Canterbury.  The 
present  church  was  commenced  by  Archbishop  Courtney,  and  com- 
pleted by  Archbishop  Chicheley.  It  had  originally  very  fine  painted 
windows,  which,  in  the  time  of  the  Rebellion,  one  lilepe  was  hired  for 
half-a-crown  per  day  to  break  !  In  the  church  are  the  effigies  of  these 
archbishops:  Grindal,  in  his  scarlet  robes;  Sheldon,  in  his  robes  and 
mitre,  designed  and  executed  by  the  City  mason  and  his  English  work- 
men: the  tombs  of  Wake,  Potter,  and  Herring  ;  and  Whitgift,  in  the 
act  of  prayer.  Here  lies  Dr.  Richard  Phillips,  the  vicar,  who,  preaching 
at  St.  Paul's,  against  printhti^,  exclaimed:  "  \Vc  [the  Roman  Catholics] 
must  root  out  Printing,  or  Printing  will  root  out  us!"  Dr.  Clewcr, 
collated  in  1680,  by  Charles  IL,  w<i8  of  criminal  character,  and  had 


The  Minories.  155 

been  tried  once,  and  burnt  in  the  hand  at  the  Old  Bailey,  for  stealing  a 
silver  cup :  he  was  robbed  on  the  Acton  road,  when  the  Doctor,  not 
having  a  farthing  about  him,  lost  his  gown  at  a  game  of  all-fours  with 
the  footpad,  and  had  to  go  home  without  his  canonicals.  Barkley,  who 
wrote  the  Ship  of  Fools,  and  was  successively  a  Benedictine  monk  at 
Ely,  and  a  Franciscan  at  Canterbury,  was  buried  in  the  churchyard, 
where  lay  one  William  Burnet,  with  this  inscription : 

"What  is  Man? 
To-day  he's  drest  in  Gold  and  Silver  bright ; 
Wrapt  in  a  Shroud  before  to-morrow  night : 
To-day  he's  feasting  on  delicious  food ; 
To-morrow,  nothing  eat  can  do  him  good ; 
To-day  he's  nice,  and  scorns  to  feed  on  crumbs, 
In  a  few  days  himself  a  dish  for  worms : 
To-day  he's  honour'd,  and  in  great  esteem ; 
To-morrow  not  a  beggar  values  him  : 
To-day  he  rises  from  a  velvet  bed ; 
To-morrow  lies  in  one  that's  made  of  lead : 
To-day  his  house,  tho"  large,  he  thinks  too  small; 
To-morrow  can  command  no  house  at  all : 
To-day  he's  twenty  servants  at  his  gate ; 
To-morrow  scarcely  one  will  deign  to  wait : 
To-day  perfumed,  and  sweet  as  is  the  rose ; 
To-morrow  stinks  in  everybody's  nose : 
To-day  he's  grand,  majestic,  all  delight ; 
Ghastly  and  pale  before  to-morrow  night. 
Now,  when  you've  wrote  and  said  whate'er  you  can. 
This  is  the  best  that  you  can  say  of  Man." 


The  Minories. 

The  street  which  extends  from  Aldgate  to  the  Tower  has  the  name  of 
Minories,  derived  from  Sorores  Minores  (Minoresses),  a  convent  of 
nuns,  denominated  Clares,  from  their  foundress,  St.  Clara.  It  was 
founded  by  Blanche,  widow  of  Henry  le  Gros,  King  of  Navarre,  married 
to  Edmund,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  Leicester,  and  Derby,  brother  to  King 
Edward  I.  In  the  year  1515,  we  are  informed  by  Stow,  that  a  pesti- 
lence being  in  the  city  and  suburbs,  there  died  in  this  convent  twenty- 
seven  nuns,  besides  lay  sisters  and  servants  of  the  monastery.  There 
were  interred  in  its  church  the  Queen  Dowager  Isabella,  wife  of 
Edward  IL ;  as  also  Bishop  Clerke,  who  in  1521,  presented  that  re- 
markable copy  of  the  King's  book  against  Luther  to  the  Pope,  which 
obtained  for  Henry  VIII.  the  name  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith."  This 
embassy,  it  is  supposed,  paved  the  way  to  a  bishopric,  as  another  seems 
to  have  occasioned  his  death.    For  when,  in  1533,  it  was  debated  in 


156  The  Minories, 

convocation  whether  a  marriage  with  a  brother's  widow  was  contrary 
to  the  divine  law,  and  indispensable  by  the  Pope,  supposing  no  issue, 
and,  again,  whether  the  marriage  between  Prince  Arthur  and  Katharine 
had  been  properly  consummated ;  he  was  one  of  the  few  of  the  council 
who,  on  the  first  question,  refused  to  vote  against  the  Queen,  and  the 
only  one  who,  on  the  second  point,  actually  voted  in  her  behalf.  Not- 
withstanding his  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  Henry  VI II.,  this  King 
gave  him  the  monastery  in  the  "  Minories,"  then  recently  become  vested 
in  the  Crown.  This  prelate  was  supposed  to  have  been  poisoned  in 
Germany,  as  he  was  journeying  towards  Cleves,  and  having  returned 
with  great  difficulty  to  London,  died  the  following  year,  1544,  and  was 
buried  in  the  abbey  of  the  "  Sorores  Minores,"  before  its  actual  suppres- 
sion and  surrender.  The  land  belonging  to  the  abbey  reverted  to  the 
Crown ;  and  in  the  following  reign,  Edward  VI.,  it  was  again  given  to 
Henry  Grey,  the  father  of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  who  was  created  Duke  of 
Suffolk  in  1 55 1,  and  beheaded  in  1553.  "In  place  of  this  house  of 
nuns,"  says  Stow,  "is  now  built  divers  fair  and  large  storehouses  for 
armour  and  habiliments  of  wai',  with  divers  workhouses  working  for  the 
same  purpose."  There  was  built  also  on  the  site  of  the  monastery  the 
parish  church  of  Holy  Trinity,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Minories :  the 
parish,  which  was  formerly  the  close  of  a  religious  house,  is  without  the 
walls  of  London,  although  in  the  Liberty  of  the  Tower  of  London.  It 
contains  a  handsome  monument,  supposed  of  alabaster,  with  the  figures 
of  Sir  John  Pelham  and  his  wife,  together  with  their  son,  all  kneeling ; 
It  bears  the  following  inscription : 

"  Deathe  first  did  strike  Sir  John,  here  tombd  in  claye. 
And  then  enforst  his  sonne  to  follow  faste ; 
Of  Pelham 's  line,  this  Knyghte  was  chicfe  and  stay, 
By  this,  behold  !  all  fleshe  must  dye  at  laste. 
But  Blctsowe's  lord,  thy  sister  most  may  moane 
Both  mate  and  sonne  liathe  left  her  here  alone. 
Sir  John  Pelham,  dyed  Oct.  13,  1580. 
Oliver  Pelham,  his  sonne,  dyed  Jan.  19,  1584." 

There  is  a  supposition  that  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  who  was  Warden  of 
the  Mint  in  1704,  and  afterwards  Master  Worker  of  the  same  place, 
lived  for  a  short  period  in  Haydon-sciuare,  which  is  in  the  parish  ;  and 
there  is  also  in  this  stjuare  a  spring  of  pure  water  of  the  most  admirable 
purity  and  brilliancy,  which  was  the  convent  fountain.  Some  bones, 
taken  from  the  plains  of  Cullodon,  are  deposited  in  the  churchyard, 
bearing  the  date  174,'J;  and  in  the  church  is  placed  a  head,  taken 
from  a  body  which  evidently  had  suflcred  decapitation,  although  it  ia 
impossible  to  discover  now  the  name  of  its  possessor. 


Sion  House,  Isleworth.  157 

In  1853,  during  excavations  in  the  square,  was  found  a  stone  sarco- 
phagus of  the  late  Roman  period,  sculptured  with  fruit,  a  medallic  bust, 
and  foliage,  and  containing  a  leaden  coffin  with  the  remains  of  a  child: 
the  sarcophagus  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

Francis  Osborne  records  (1701),  that  he  heard  William,  Earl  of 
Pembroke,  relate,  with  much  regret,  that  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  Lord 
Gobham,  died  in  a  room  ascended  by  a  ladder,  at  a  poor  woman's  house 
in  the  Minories,  formerly  his  laundress,  rather  of  hunger  than  any  more 
natural  disease. 

The  Minories  weapons  do  not  appear  to  have  ranked  very  high,  to 
judge  by  the  following  comparison,  in  one  of  Dryden's  prefaces:  "  He 
who  works  dully  on  a  story,  without  moving  laughter  in  a  comedy,  or 
raising  concernments  in  a  serious  play,  is  no  more  to  be  counted  a  good 
poet,  than  a  gunsmith  of  the  Minories  is  to  be  compared  with  the  best 
workmen  of  the  town  ;"  so  that,  when  the  Spa  Fields  rioters,  in  1816, 
plundered  the  shops  of  the  gunsmiths  on  their  way  to  "  summon  the 
Tower,"  they  reckoned  without  their  host. 


Sion  House,  Isleworth. 

Upon  the  north  bank  of  the  Thames,  opposite  Richmond  Gardens,  is 
the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  called  Sion,  from  a  nunnery 
of  Bridgetines,  of  the  same  name,  originally  founded  at  Twickenham  by 
Henry  V.,  in  1414,  and  removed  to  this  spot  in  1432.  The  conventual 
association  consisted  of  sixty  nuns,  exclusive  of  the  abbess,  thirteen 
priests,  four  deacons,  and  eight  lay-brethren ;  the  whole  thus  corre- 
sponding, in  point  of  number,  with  the  apostles  and  seventy-two  dis- 
ciples of  Christ.  Many  irregularities  existed  in  this  foundation;  on 
which  account  it  was  among  the  earliest  of  the  larger  monastic  institu- 
tions that  was  suppressed  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 

After  the  Dissolution  of  the  convent,  in  1533,  it  continued  in  the 
Crown  during  the  remainder  of  Henry's  reign  ;  and  the  King  confined 
here  his  unfortunate  Queen,  Catherine  Howard,  from  Nov.  14,  1541, 
to  her  being  examined  by  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  confessing 
the  looseness  of  her  life:  she  was  executed  with  Lady  Rochford, 
Feb.  12,  1542  Edward  VI.  granted  the  estate  to  his  uncle,  the  Duke 
of  Somerset,  who,  in  1547,  began  to  build  this  magnificent  structure, 
and  finished  the  shell  of  it  nearly  as  it  now  remains.  It  is  of  white 
Btone,  quadrangular  form,  with  a  square  turret  at  each  angle,  the  roof 
Bat  and  embattled.   In  the  centre  is  an  inclosed  area,  eighty  feet  square^ 


158  Sion  House,  Isleworth. 

now  laid  out  as  a  flower-garden.  The  gardens  were  inclosed  by  high 
walls  before  the  east  and  west  fronts,  and  were  laid  out  in  a  grand 
manner,  but  so  as  to  insure  stately  privacy,  thus  depriving  the  house  ot 
all  prospect.  To  remedy  this  inconvenience,  the  Protector  built  a  high 
triangular  terrace  in  the  angle  between  the  walls  of  the  two  gardens : 
this,  by  his  enemies,  was  afterwards  called  a  fortification,  and  adduced 
as  one  proof  among  others,  of  his  having  formed  a  design  dangerous  to 
the  liberties  of  the  King  and  people.  The  Duke  was  executed,  Jan.  22, 
1552.  The  King  gives,  in  his  Journal,  several  particulars  of  the  charges 
against  his  uncle,  but  dismisses  his  death  in  the  most  heartless  mannei  . 
"The  Duke  of  Somerset  had  his  head  cut  off  upon  Tower  Hill,  be- 
tween 8  and  9  o'clock  in  the  morning." 

Sion  was  now  forfeited,  and  the  house,  which  was  given  to  John, 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  then  became  the  residence  of  his  son,  Lord 
Guildford  Dudley,  and  of  his  daughter-in-law,  the  unfortunate  Lady 
Jane  Grey:  she  resided  at  Sion  when  the  Dukes  of  Northumberland 
and  Suffolk,  and  her  husband,  came  to  prevail  upon  her  to  accept  the 
fatal  present  of  the  Crown ;  and  hence  she  was  conducted,  as  then  usual 
on  the  accession  of  the  Sovereign,  to  reside  some  time  in  the  Tower. 

The  Duke  being  beheaded  in  1553,  Sion  House  reverted  to  the 
Crown.  Queen  Mary  restored  it  to  the  Bridgctines,  who  possessed  it 
till  they  were  finally  expelled  by  Elizabeth.  In  1604,  Sion  House  was 
granted  to  Henry  Percy,  ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland,  in  considera- 
tion of  his  eminent  services.  His  son,  Algernon,  employed  Inigo  Jones 
to  new  face  the  inner  court  and  finish  the  Great  Hall.  In  1682, 
Charles,  Duke  of  Somerset,  having  married  the  only  child  of  Joceline, 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  Sion  House  became  his  property.  He  lent 
the  house  to  the  Princess  Anne,  who  resided  here  during  her  misunder- 
standing with  Queen  Mary.  Upon  the  Duke's  death,  in  1748,  his  son, 
Algernon,  gave  Sion  House  to  Sir  Hugh  and  Lady  Elizabeth  Smithson, 
his  son-in-law  and  daughter,  afterwards  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Northum- 
berland. 

The  house  has  a  magnificent  interior,  with  treasures  of  ancient 
and  modem  sculpture ;  and  a  fine  collection  of  royal  and  noble  por- 
traits. Those  of  the  Stuart  family  are  placed  in  the  apartments 
in  which  the  ill-fated  Charles  had  so  many  tender  interviews  with 
his  children,  after  the  latter  were  committed  to  the  charge  of 
Lord  Algernon  Percy,  and  removed  to  Sion  House  in  August,  1646. 
The  Earl  treated  them  with  parental  attention,  and  obtained  a  grant  of 
Parliament  for  the  King  to  Ik'  allowed  to  see  them;  and  in  consequence 
of  Uiu  indulgence,  Ctiarles,  wiiu  wa3  then  under  restraint  at  Huniptun 


Ham  House,  Petersham^  159 

Court,  often  dined  with  his  family  at  Sion  House.  The  Duke  of  York 
was,  at  that  period,  about  fourteen  years  of  age ;  the  Princess  Elizabeth, 
twelve;  and  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  seven.  The  portrait  of  the 
Princess,  in  the  Sion  collection,  is  believed  to  be  the  only  picture  extant 
of  this  lady. 


Ham  House,  Petersham. 

One  of  the  finest  historic  houses  in  the  environs  of  London  is  Ham 
House,  in  the  possession  of  the  Dysart  family,  situated  upon  low  ground, 
near  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  and  opposite  to  the  classic  shore  of  Ted- 
dington.  This  mansion  is  a  very  curious  specimen  of  the  domestic 
architecture  of  the  time  of  James  I.  It  was  erected  by  Sir  Thomas 
Vavasor,  Knt.,  who,  in  161 1,  was  appointed  judge  of  the  then  newly- 
constituted  Marshal's  court,  conjointly  with  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  the 
solicitor-general,  and  afterwards  lord  chancellor.  The  date  of  the 
house,  1610,  and  vivat  rex,  are  carved  on  the  principal  entrance- 
door.  The  house  is  surrounded  with  majestic  elms  and  groves  of 
Scotch  firs.  The  mansion  is  built  of  red  brick,  with  stone  finishings. 
The  gardens  have  been  but  little  altered  since  they  were  originally 
formed ;  terrace  above  terrace  slope  towards  the  river ;  and  Ham  W^alks 
have  been  celebrated  by  several  of  our  poets.  On  the  principal  facade 
of  the  house,  and  the  garden  walls,  is  a  series  of  well-sculptured  busts 
in  niches.  In  the  centre  is  a  large  hall,  surrounded  by  an  open  gallery; 
the  balustrades  of  the  grand  staircase  are  of  walnut  tree,  ornamented  with 
military  trophies.  The  great  statesman  and  general,  John,  Duke  of 
Argyll  and  Greenwich,  was  bom  here.  James  II.  was  ordered  to  retire 
to  Ham  House,  on  the  arrival  of  the  Prince  of  Orange  in  London,  but 
thinking  himself  too  near  the  metropolis,  he  retired  precipitately  into 
France.  Some  of  the  apartments  are  lined  with  tapestry  and  rich 
hangings ;  and  are  left  nearly  in  the  same  state  as  when  they  were  in- 
habited by  the  Countess  of  Dysart,  who  refurnished  the  house  at  a 
great  expense  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  Second.  Many  things,  indeed, 
remind  us  of  those  times;  the  Stuart  arms  form  the  back  of  several  of 
the  fireplaces ;  the  paintings  are  mostly  of  that  era,  and  the  inlaid  floors 
and  tables  still  bear  the  cypher  of  the  countess.  Adjoining  the  entrance 
hall  is  a  small  chapel,  in  which  is  a  folio  prayer-book,  with  the  royal 
aiTOS,  presented  by  Charles  II.  Within  a  small  picture-closet,  the 
coved  ceiling  painted  by  Verrio,  are  miniatures,  cabinet  pictures,  and 
articles  of  'virtu.  Here  are  two  miniatures  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  one 
with  astonishing  elaborateness  of  di-^'-s,  embroidery,  and  pearls.    In  4 


i6o  Ham  House,  Petersham. 

little  glazed  cabinet  are  miniatures  of  Charles  XII.  of  Sweden ;  Marj 
d'Este,  second  wife  of  James  II. ;  Louis  XIV.  when  a  child,  on  enamel, 
by  Petitot ;  together  with  a  small  lock  of  hair  fi-om  the  decapitated  Earl 
of  Essex,  which  is  attached  to  one  ear-ring  that  was  originally  worn 
by  the  Duchess  of  Somerset,  the  Earl's  daughter. 

The  hangings  of  the  Tapestry-room  comprise  four  copies  of  Raphael's 
Cartoons,  possibly  wrought  at  Moitlake,  where  Sir  Francis  Crane 
established  a  tapestry  manufacture,  imder  the  patronage  of  James  I. 
The  Queen's  Audience  Chamber  is  likewise  hung  with  tapestrj'  resem 
bling  the  Gobelin  manufacture — the  subjects  from  Watteau.  This 
room  is  called  the  Cabal  Chamber,  from  the  meetings  held  there  by  the 
despotic  ministers  of  Charles  II.,  whose  initials  form  "  Cabal."  In  the 
China  closet  is  an  original  picture  of  King  James  I.,  seated  in  an  aiTO- 
chair.  The  prayer-book  of  the  celebrated  Lady  Rachel  Russell  is  kept 
in  one  of  the  drawing-rooms. 

In  the  Duchess  of  Lauderdale's  Apartments  almost  everything  re- 
mains in  the  same  order  as  when  tenanted  by  that  lady.  Besides  the 
choice  portraits,  in  the  adjoining  room  is  the  arm-chair  (beneath  a  silken 
canopy,  now  pendent  in  tatters),  in  which  she  was  accustomed  to  sit; 
her  writing-desk,  tall  cane,  and  shorter  walking-stick  are  preserved  here. 
The  Picture  Gallery  is  hung  with  portraits,  mostly  by  Sir  Peter  Lely 
and  Vandyck.  The  curious  old  Library,  called  by  Dibdin  a  "  wonderful 
book  paradise,"  contains  fourteen  of  Caxton's  works.  Here  are  many 
documents  and  originalletters  of  the  reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II. ; 
also,  the  first  known  edition  of  the  Pastime  of  Pleasure,  by  Stephen 
Hawes,  printed  by  De  Worde,  in  1509 ;  and  from  the  same  press  is 
another  amatory  poem,  entitled  The  Comfort  of  Lovers,  by  Hawes,  of 
which  no  other  copy  is  known  to  be  extant. 

The  Countess  of  Dysart,  of  whom  here  is  a  most  lovely  portrait  by 
Vandyck,  came  to  have  so  much  power  over  the  Lord  Lauderdale, 
that  it  lessened  him  much  in  the  esteem  of  the  world  ;  for  he  delivered 
himself  up  to  ail  iier  humours  and  passions.  She  sold  all  places,  and  was 
wanting  in  no  methods  that  could  bring  her  money,  which  she  lavislied 
out  in  a  most  profused  vanity.  She  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
mistress  of  the  Protector :  she  made  a  boast  to  her  husband,  that  when 
he  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Worcester,  she  saved  him  from 
the  block  by  submitting  to  the  familiarities  of  Ciomwell.  Buniet  says 
that  "  he  was  certainly  fond  of  her,  and  she  took  good  care  to  entertain 
him  in  it,"  and  that  "  his  intrigues  with  her  were  not  a  little  taken  notice 
of."  This  intimacy  subsequently  gave  so  much  offence  to  the  Puritana, 
that  he  was  compelled  to  relinquish  Ills  visits. 


I6i 


Holland  House  and  its  Memories. 

This  celebrated  mansion  is  chai  mingly  placed  upon  high  ground,  about 
two  miles  west  of  the  town,  in  a  beautiful  park,  between  the  Kensing- 
ton and  Uxbridge  roads.  The  upper  apartments  are  on  a  level  with  the 
stone  gallery  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  It  was  the  manor-house  of  Abbots 
Kensington,  built  in  1607,  for  Sir  Walter  Cope,  from  wn^m  it  de- 
scended to  his  son-in-law,  Henry  Rich,  first  Earl  of  Holland,  whence 
it  was  named  Holland  Home.  The  Earl  was  twice  made  prisoner  here — 
by  Charles  I.,  in  1633,  for  his  challenging  Lord  Weston — and  by  the 
command  of  the  Parliament,  after  his  attempt  to  restore  the  King,  for 
which  he  was  beheaded  in  1649.  Holland  House  was  next  occupied 
by  Fairfax,  as  his  head-quarters.  The  mansion  was,  however,  soon  re- 
stored to  the  Countess  of  Holland.  During  the  Protectorate,  "  in 
Oliver's  time,"  the  players  used  to  act  privately  here.  In  17 16,  the 
estate  passed  to  Addison,  the  Essayist,  by  his  marriage  with  Charlotte, 
Dowager  Countess  of  Holland  and  Wanvick  ;  here  Addison  died,  June 
17,  1719:  having,  as  stated  by  Dr.  Edward  Young,  addressed  to  the 
dissolute  Earl  of  Warwick  these  solemn  words:  "  I  have  sent  for  yoii 
that  you  may  see  how  a  Christian  can  die !"  he  shortly  after  expired: 

"There  taught  us  how  to  live,  and — oh,  too  high 
The  price  of  knowledge ! — taught  us  how  to  die." 

The  young  Earl  himself  died  in  1721.  Lord  Holland  died  here  July  i, 
1774  :  during  his  last  illness,  George  Selwyn  called  and  left  his  card; 
Selwyn  had  a  fondness  for  seeing  dead  bodies,  and  the  dying  lord,  fully 
comprehending  his  feeling,  is  said  to  have  remarked,  "  If  Mr.  Selwyn 
calls  again,  show  him  up  ;  if  I  am  alive,  I  shall  be  delighted  to  see  him, 
and  if  I  am  dead,  he  would  like  to  see  me."  Lord  Holland  (the 
famous  Whig),  called  on  Lord  Lansdowne  a  little  before  his  death,  and 
showed  him  his  epitaph  of  his  own  composition.  "  Here  lies  Henry 
Vassall  Fox,  Lord  Holland,  &c.,  who  was  drowned  while  sitting  in 
his  elbow-chair :"  he  died  in  Holland  House,  in  his  elbow-chair,  of 
water  in  the  chest. — Cunningham. 

About  the  year  1762,  the  estate  was  sold  to  Henry  Fox,  the  first 
Baron  Holland  of  that  name,  whose  second  son,  Charles  James  Fox, 
passed  his  early  years  at  Holland  House ;  and  here  lived  his  nephew, 
the  accomplished  peer,  at  whose  death,  in  1840,  the  estate  descended 
to  his  only  son,  by  whom  the  olden  character  of  the  mansion  and 
its  appmtenances  was  studiously  maintained. 
*  Jtl 


1 62  Holland  House  and  its  Memories. 

It  has  been  commonly  stated  and  believed  that  Addison's  mani<i}?e 
with  the  Countess  of  Warwick  was  a  most  unhappy  match;  and  that, 
to  drown  his  sorrow  and  escape  from  his  termagant  wife,  he  would 
often  slip  away  from  Holland  House  to  the  AVhite  Horse  Inn,  which 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  Holland  Arms  Inn.  Here  Addison 
would  enjoy  his  favourite  dish  of  fillet  of  veal,  his  bottle,  and  perhaps 
a  friend.  Moreover,  Addison  is  accused  of  having  taught  Dryden  to 
drink,  so  as  to  hasten  his  end.  Pope  also  states  that  Addison  kept  such 
late  hours  that  he  was  compelled  to  quit  his  company.  But  both  these 
anecdotes  are  from  Spence's  medley  volume,  and  are  doubted ;  and 
they  have  done  much  injury  to  Addison's  character.  Miss  Aikin  (in 
her  Life  of  Addison),  endeavours  to  invalidate  these  imputations,  by 
reference  to  the  sobriety  of  Addison's  early  life.  He  had  a  remark- 
ably sound  constitution,  and  could,  probably,  sit  out  his  companions, 
and  stop  short  of  actual  intoxication ;  indeed,  it  was  said  that  he  was 
only  warmed  into  the  utmost  brillancy  of  table  conversation  by  the 
time  that  Steele  had  rendered  himself  neariy  unfit  for  it.  The  idea  that 
domestic  unhappiness  led  him  to  contract  intoxication,  is  then  repu- 
diated ;  and  the  opposite  conclusion  supported  by  the  bequest  of  his 
whole  property  to  his  lady.  "  Is  it  conceivable,"  asks  Miss  Aikin, 
"  that  any  man  would  thus  '  give  and  hazard  all  he  had,'  even  to  his 
precious  only  child,  in  compliment  to  a  woman  who  should  have  rendered 
his  last  years  miserable  by  her  pride  and  petulance,  and  have  driven  him 
out  from  his  home,  to  pass  his  comfortless  evenings  in  the  gross  indul- 
gence of  a  tavern  ?" 

There  is  a  story  told  of  Sheridan,  which  has  more  the  semblance  of 
truth.  Nearly  opposite,  in  the  Kensington  road,  was  the  Adam  and 
Eve  public  house,  where  Sheridan,  on  his  way  to  and  from  Holland 
House,  regularly  stopped  for  a  dram ;  and  there  he  ran  up  a  long  bill, 
which  Lord  Holland  had  to  pay. 

The  House,  designed  by  Thorpe,  is  in  plan  half  the  letter  H,  of  deep 
red  brick,  with  stone  finishings,  and  Elizabethan  character,  but  it  has  lost 
many  of  its  original  features.  The  Great  Staircase  and  the  Gilt  Room,  are 
of  the  time  of  James  I.;  the  latter  is  mostly  by  Francis  Clcyn,  who  was 
mucli  employed  by  James  I.  and  Charles  I.:  the  ceiling  "  in  grotesque," 
by  Clcyn,  fell  down  during  the  minority  of  the  late  Lord  Holland;  the 
wainscot-panels  have  alternately  gold  llcurs-de-lis  on  blue,  within  palm 
branches ;  and  gold  crosslets  on  red,  encircled  with  laurel ;  with  tlie  arms 
of  the  Rich  and  Cope  families,  and  the  punning  motto,  Ditior  est  qui 
uf — who  more  rich  than  he  ?  The  entablature  has  a  painted  leaf  en- 
richment, with  jj'ilt  acorns  between  ;  the  compartments  of  the  two  fire- 


Holland  House  and  its  Memories.  163 

places  are  painted  with  female  figures  and  bas-reliefs  from  the  antique 
fresco  of  the  Aldobrandini  Man-iage,  executed  by  Cleyn,  and  not  un- 
worthy of  Parmegiano :  among  the  furniture  are  carved  and  gilt  shell- 
back chairs,  also  by  Cleyn,  and  a  table  from  the  Charter-house  halL 
The  Library,  or  Long  Gallery,  forms  the  eastern  wing  of  the  mansion ; 
the  collection  exceeds  18,000,  besides  MSS.  and  autographs,  including 
three  plays  of  Lope  de  Vega.  In  the  other  apartments  are  valuable 
pictures,  miniatures,  drawings,  sculptures;  with  enriched  cabinets, 
vases,  carvings  in  ivory,  china,  filigree-work,  time-pieces,  &c.  In  the 
Ante-room  is  the  celebrated  collection  of  miniatures. 

Aubrey  relates  two  supernatural  appearances  at  Holland  House;  the 
first  to  "  the  beautiful  Lady  Diana  Rich,  daughter  to  the  Earl  of 
Holland,  as  she  was  walking  in  her  father's  garden  at  Kensington,' 
when  she  "  met  with  her  own  apparition,  habit  and  everything,  as  in  a 
looking-glass  About  a  month  after,  she  died  of  the  small-pox." 
Aubrey's  second  story  is  that  the  third  daughter  of  Lord  Holland,  not 
long  after  her  marriage  with  the  first  Earl  of  Breadalbane,  "  had  some 
such  warning  of  approaching  dissolution." 

Holland  House  has  been  for  nearly  two  centuries  and  a  half  the  favourite 
resort  of  wits  and  beauties,  of  painters  and  poets,  of  scholars,  philo- 
sophers, and  statesmen.  In  the  lifetime  of  Vassall  Lord  Holland  it  was 
the  meeting-place  of  "  the  Whig  Party  ;"  and  his  liberal  hospitality  made 
it  "  the  resort  not  only  of  the  most  interesting  persons  composing 
English  society,  literary,  philosophical,  and  political,  but  also  to  all  be- 
longing to  those  classes  who  ever  visited  this  country  from  abroad." 
{JLord  Broug/jam.)  "  Holland  House"  (says  Macaulay)  "  can  boast 
of  a  greater  number  of  inmates  distinguished  in  political  and  literary 
history  than  any  other  private  dwelling  in  England." 

Tickell  has  thus  elegantly  apostrophised  the  brave  old  house :— 


-)(^ 


"Thou  hill,  whose  brow  the  antique  structures  grace. 
Reared  by  bold  chiefs  of  Warwick's  noble  race ; 
Why,  once  so  loved,  whene'er  thy  bower  appears, 
O'er  my  dim  eye-balls  glance  the  sudden  tears  ? 
How  sweet  were  once  thy  prospects  fresh  and  fair, 
/  Thy  sloping  walks  and  unpolluted  air ; 

/       \  How  sweet  the  glooms  beneath  thine  aged  trees,    ^ 
N         I  Thy  noontide  shadow,  and  thine  evening  breeze  I  I 
•    His  image  thy  forsaken  bowers  restore ; 

Thy  walks  and  airy  prospects  charm  no  more ; 
No  more  the  summer  in  thy  gloom's  allay 'd. 
Thine  evening  breezes,  and  thy  noonday  shade." 

Mr.  John  Fisher  Murray,  in  his  Environs  of  London,  quotes  the  fol- 
lowing pleasing  tribute,  at  once  considerate  and  just,  to  the  memory 
of  the  social  and  conversational  excellences  of  Lord  Holland :  it  is  fronx 

M  2 


164  Holland  House  and  its  Memories. 

the  pen  of  one  well  calculated  to  do  justice  to  his  memory;  while  it  is 
an  agreeable  picture  of  manners  in  high  literary  life,  especially  that 
portion  of  it  more  particularly  associated  with  Holland  House : — 

"Speaking  of  the  mansion,  the  writer  eloquently,  and  we  fear /ro- 
pbeticallj,  says :  '  Yet  a  few  years,  and  the  shades  and  structures  may 
follow  their  illustrious  masters.  The  wonderful  city  which,  ancient 
and  gigantic  as  it  is,  still  continues  to  grow  as  a  young  town  of  log- 
wood by  a  water  privilege  in  Michigan,  may  soon  displace  those  turrets 
and  gardens,  which  are  assoi:iated  with  so  much  that  is  interesting  and 
noble;  with  the  courtly  magnificence  of  Rich,  with  the  loves  of 
Ormond,  with  the  counsels  of  Cromwell,  with  the  death  of  Addison. 
The  time  is  coming  when  perhaps  a  few  old  men,  the  last  survivors  of 
our  generation,  will  in  vain  seek,  amid  new  streets,  and  squares,  and 
rail  tvay  stations,  for  the  site  of  that  dwelling,  which  in  their  youth  was 
the  favourite  resort  of  wits  and  beauties,  of  painters  and  poets,  of 
scholars,  philosophers,  and  statesmen ;  they  will  then  remember  with 
strange  tenderness  many  objects  familiar  to  them — the  avenue  and  ter- 
race, the  busts  and  the  paintings,  the  carving,  the  grotesque  gilding,  and 
the  enigmatical  mottoes.  With  peculiar  tenderness  they  will  recall  that 
venerable  chamber,  in  which  all  the  antique  gravity  of  a  college  library 
was  so  singularly  blended  with  all  tliat  female  grace  and  wit  could  de~ 
vise  to  embellish  a  drawing-room.  They  will  recollect,  not  unmoved, 
those  shelves  loaded  with  the  varied  learning  of  many  lands  and  many 
ages ;  those  portraits,  in  which  were  preserved  the  features  of  the  best 
and  wisest  Englishmen  of  two  generations :  they  will  recollect  how 
many  men,  who  have  guided  the  politics  of  Europe,  who  have  moved 
great  assemblies  by  reason  and  eloquence,  who  have  put  life  into  bronze 
or  canvas,  or  who  have  left  to  posterity  things  so  written  that  it  will 
not  willingly  let  them  die,  were  there  mixed  with  all  that  is  loveliest  and 
gayest  in  the  society  of  the  most  splendid  of  capitals.  They  will  re- 
member the  singular  character  which  belonged  to  that  circle,  in  which 
every  talent  and  accomplishment,  every  art  and  science,  had  its  place. 
They  will  remember  how  the  last  debate  was  discussed  in  one  corner, 
and  the  last  comedy  of  Scribe  in  another;  while  Wilkie  gazed  with 
modest  admiration  on  Reynolds'  Haretti ;  while  Mackintosh  turned 
over  Thomas  Acjuinas  to  verify  a  quotation  ;  while  I'alleyrand  related 
his  conversations  with  Barras  at  the  Luxembourg,  or  his  ride  with 
Lanncs  over  the  field  of  Austerlit/.  'I'hey  will  remember,  above  all, 
the  grace,  and  the  kindness  far  more  admirable  than  grace,  with  which 
the  princely  liospitality  of  that  ancient  mansion  was  dispensed  ;  they 
will  remember  Uic  venerable  and  beni^'nant  cuuntenauce  and  the  curdia.' 


Osterley  Park  and  Sir  Thomas  Grcsham.  165 

voice  of  him  who  bade  them  welcome ;  they  will  remember  that  temper. 
which  years  of  sickness,  of  lameness,  of  confinement,  seemed  only  to 
make  sweeter  and  sweeter ;  and  that  frank  politeness,  which  at  once 
relieved  all  the  embarrassment  of  the  youngest  and  most  timid  writer  or 
artist  who  found  himself  for  the  first  time  among  ambassadors  and  earls. 
They  will  remember  that,  in  the  last  lines  which  he  traced,  he  expressed 
his  joy  that  he  had  done  nothing  unworthy  of  the  friend  of  Fox  and 
Grey ;  and  they  will  have  reason  to  feel  similar  joy,  if,  in  looking  back 
on  many  troubled  years,  they  cannot  accuse  themselves  of  having  done 
anything  unworthy  of  men  who  weix;  distinguished  by  the  friendship  of 
Lord  Holland."  " 

We  regard  this  as  a  very  graceful  as  well  as  truthful  piece  of  writing, 
each  as  we  rarely  find  in  the  journals  of  home  tourists. 


Osterley  Park  and  Sir  Thomas  Gresham. 

Osterley,  the  noble  seat  of  the  Jersey  family,  near  Hounslow,  belonged 
to  the  Convent  of  Sion,  on  the  suppression  of  which  it  was  granted  to 
Henry,  Marquis  of  Exeter ;  and  reverting  to  the  Crown  on  his  attainder, 
Edward  VI.  granted  it  to  the  Duke  of  Somerset.  Being  again  forfeited 
by  his  attainder,  it  was  granted,  in  1557,  to  Augustine  Thaier.  Be- 
tween this  period  and  1570,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  Sir  Thomas 
Gresham,  by  whom  a  noble  edifice  was  erected.  Here  the  great  mer- 
chant magnificently  entertained  Queen  Elizabeth,  before  whom  the 
Devises  of  fVarre,  and  a  play,  were  performed.  On  this  visit  hei 
Majesty  found  fault  with  the  court  of  Gresham's  house,  affirming  it 
would  appear  more  handsome,  if  divided  with  a  court  in  the  middle. 
What  does  Sir  Thomas,  but  in  the  night  time  sends  for  workmen  to 
London,  who  so  speedily  and  silently  apply  their  business,  that  the  next 
morning  discovered  the  court  double,  which  the  night  had  left  single 
before.  It  is  questionable  whether  the  Queen  next  day,  was  more  con- 
tented with  the  conformity  to  her  fancy,  or  more  pleased  with  the  sur- 
prise and  sudden  performance  thereof.  Her  courtiers,  some  avowed  it 
was  no  wonder  he  could  so  soon  change  a  building,  who  could  build  a 
"change;"  others,  reflecting  on  some  known  difference  in  the  knight's 
family,  affirmed  that  a  house  is  easier  divided  than  united. 

In  1596,  Osterley  was  in  the  possession  of  the  "  Ladie  Gresham;"  it 
was  a  fair  and  stately  building  of  brick,  standing  in  a  park,  well  wooded, 
and  garnished  with  many  fair  ponds,  which  afforded  not  only  fish  and 
fowl,  as  swans  and  other  waterfowl,  but  also  great  use  for  mills,  ai 


1 66  Enfield  Palace. 

paper-mills,  oil-mills,  and  corn-mills,  all  which  were  then  decayed  except 
a  corn-mill.  In  the  park,  too,  was  a  heronry,  for  the  increase  and  pre- 
servation of  which  "  sundrie  allurements  were  devised  and  set  up,"  now 
fallen  all  to  ruin.  The  mansion  afterwards  was  the  seat  of  Sir  William 
Waller,  the  celebrated  Parliamentary  General.  It  then  passed  by  mort- 
gage, to  Sir  Francis  Child,  who  commenced  the  present  mansion,  on 
the  site  of  the  more  ancient  structure,  about  the  year  1750.  "  It  had  a 
magnificent  interior,"  Walpole  describes,  "  and  a  drawing-room  worthy 
of  Eve  before  the  fall.  Mrs.  Child's  dressing-room  is  full  of  pictures, 
gold,  filigree,  China,  and  Japan.  So  is  all  the  house ;  the  chairs  are 
taken  from  antique  lyres,  and  make  charming  harmony.  There  ai'c 
Salvators,  Caspar  Poussins,  a  beautiful  staircase,  a  ceiling  by  Rubens, 
not  to  mention  a  kitchen  garden  that  costs  1 400/.  a  year ;  a  menagerie 
full  of  birds  which  came  from  a  thousand  islands  which  Mr.  Banks  has 
not  discovered ;  and  there  in  the  drawing-room  which  I  mentioned ; 
there  are  door-cases  and  a  crimson  and  gold  fiieze,  that  I  believe  were 
borrowed  from  the  Palace  of  the  Sun ;  and  then  the  park  is  the  richest 
spot  of  ground  in  the  universe." 


Enfield  Palace. 

Enfield,  ten  miles  east  of  London,  was  anciently  famed  for  its 
Chace,  a  large  tract  of  Woodland,  filled  with  deer ;  granted  by  the 
Conqueror  to  an  ancestor  of  the  Mandevillcs,  Earls  of  Essex,  from 
whom  it  came  to  the  Bohuns,  Earls  of  Hereford  ;  but  it  has  belonged 
to  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  ever  since  King  Henry  IV.  manied  a 
daughter  and  co-heir  of  the  last  Humphrey  Bohun.  When  King 
James  resided  at  Theobalds,  this  Chace  was  well  stocked  with  deer ; 
but  in  the  Civil  Wars,  it  was  stripped  of  game  and  timber,  and  let 
out  in  farms.  At  the  Restoration,  it  was  again  laid  open,  and  stocked 
with  deer;  but  in  1779,  it  was  disafforested.  Almost  in  the  middle  of  the 
Chace  are  still  the  ruins  of  an  ancient  house,  which  tradition  affirms  to 
have  belonged  to  the  Mandevillcs,  Earls  of  Essex, 

In  tlic  town  of  Enfield  is  a  small  part  of  an  ancient  royal  palace, 
which  was  the  manor-house  of  Enfield;  and  either  in  this,  or  another 
ancient  house,  called  Elsynge  Hall,  (now  demolished,)  Edwaril  VI.  on 
his  succession  to  the  throne,  kept  his  ct)Uit  lor  live  months,  before  he 
removed  to  London.  Mrs.  Boscawen,  writing  to  Mrs.  Delany,  thus 
descrilK'S  the  palace: — "  I  had  a  mind  to  explore  an  old  house,  which  is 
callol  here  Queen  Elizabetir»  House.     1  went  in,  and  doubtless  arrived 


Enfield  Palace.  1 67 

in  Her  Majesty's  eating  parlour — a  large  room,  fretwork,  mosaic  ceiling  of 
old  form.  A  chimney-piece,  ditto  E.  R.,  carved  and  corniced,  portcullises, 
roses  and  other  marks  of  Plantagenets ;  also  a  Latin  distich  over  the 
chimney-piece,  which  I  believe  was  her  Majesty's  own  composing."  A 
letter  of  Queen  Elizabeth's,  dated  from  Enfield,  is  yet  extant ;  and  there 
is  in  the  Bodleian  Library  a  sermon  which  her  Royal  Highness  translated 
at  Enfield  and  presented,  as  a  new  year's  present  to  her  brother,  King 
Edward.  Elizabeth  kept  her  court  here  early  in  her  reign  ;  but  the 
palace  was  alienated  from  the  Crown  by  Charles  L  Dr.  Uvedale,  who 
lived  here,  planted  in  the  garden  a  cedar  of  Libanus,  which  in  1793,  was 
twelve  feet  in  girth.  Tradition  says  that  the  tree,  when  a  plant,  was 
brought  fi-om  Mount  Libanus  in  a  portmanteau.  In  one  of  the  rooms 
of  the  palace  were  two  chimney-pieces,  with  architectural  and  heraldic 
enrichments.     The  building  was  taken  down  in  1 792. 

We  read  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  in  1557,  being  escorted  from 
Hatfield  to  Enfield  Chace,  attended  by  twelve  ladies  in  white  satin, 
on  ambling  palfreys,  twenty  yeomen  in  green,  all  on  horseback,  that 
her  grace  might  hunt  the  hart.  She  was  met  on  the  Chace  by  fifty 
archers,  armed  with  gilded  bows,  each  of  whom  presented  her  with 
a  silver-headed  arrow  winged  with  peacocks'  feathers.  At  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  hunt,  the  Princess  cut  the  throat  of  the  buck. 

Over  Enfield  Wash  a  mysterious  tradition  yet  lives.  It  appears  that 
Elizabeth  Canning,  a  servant  girl,  having  been  to  visit  a  relation  on  New 
Year's-day,  1753,  did  not  return  to  her  master's  house  that  night,  nor 
was  she  heard  of  for  a  month  afterwards,  when  she  came  to  her  mother 
in  a  very  emaciated  and  deplorable  condition,  and  affirmed  that  on  the 
night  she  disappeared  she  had  been  attacked  in  Moorfields  by  two  men, 
who  robbed  her,  and  carried  her  by  force  to  the  house  of  one  Mother 
Wells,  at  Enfield  Wash.  Another  person  who  ill-treated  her  at  the 
time,  she  said,  was  Mary  Squires,  a  gipsy.  In  consequence  of  these 
charges,  both  Squires  and  Wells  were  apprehended  and  tried  at  the  Old 
Bailey.  The  former  was  condemned  to  be  hanged,  and  the  latter  to  be 
burned  in  the  hand  and  imprisoned.  Subsequent  inquiry  established  the 
falsehood  of  the  whole  story.  The  gipsy  and  Wells  were  set  free,  and 
Canning,  in  her  turn,  was  sentenced  to  seven  years'  transportation. 
Elizabeth  Canning  was  the  popular  heroine  of  the  day.  The  mob 
warmly  took  up  her  side.  They  proceeded  to  the  most  violent  out- 
rages, breaking  the  coach-windows  of  the  Lord  Mayor,  and  even  threat- 
ening his  life. 


i(i8 


The  Palace  of  Whitehall. 

That  part  of  Westminster  which  extends  from  near  Charing  Crons 
to  Canon-row,  and  from  the  Thames  to  St.  James's  Park,  was  the  site 
of  the  royal  Palace  of  Whitehall,  from  1530  to  1697.  Its  historical 
associations  are  very  interesting.  It  was  formerly  called  York  Place, 
from  having  been  the  town  residence  of  the  Archbishops  of  York: 
Wolscy  being  the  last  by  whom  it  was  inhabited.  It  was  taken  fi'om 
him  by  Henry  VIII.,  and  the  broken-hearted  prelate  left  in  his  barge  on 
the  Thames  for  Esher.  The  name  of  the  palace  was  then  changed  to 
White  Hall,  possibly  from  some  new  buildings  having  been  constructed  of 
white  stone.  Here  Henry  and  Anne  Boleyn  were  married;  and  here  her 
coronation  was  kept.  Henry  built  a  noble  stone  gallery,  from  which, 
in  1539,  he  reviewed  15,000  armed  citizens :  and  the  Court  and  nobility 
witnessed  the  jousts  and  tournaments  in  the  Tilt-yard,  now  the  parade- 
ground  of  the  Horse  Guards.  Holbein  built,  opposite  the  entrance  to 
the  Tilt-yard,  a  magnificent  Gate-house,  of  small  squared  stones  and 
flint  boulders,  glazed  and  tessellated  :  on  each  front  were  four  terra-cotta 
busts,  naturally  coloured,  and  gilt.  The  gate  was  removed  m  1 750. 
Three  of  the  busts,  Henry  VII.  and  VIII.  and  Bishop  Fisher,  are  now 
at  Hatfield  Priory,  Essex.  The  Gate-house  was  used  as  a  State-paper 
Office  many  years  before  its  removal,  and  was  known  as  the  Cockpit 
Gate.  Bishop  Latimer  preached  before  the  Court  in  the  Privy  Garden, 
the  King  sitting  at  one  of  the  palace  windows.  Queen  Mary  went  from 
Whitehall  by  water  to  her  coronation  at  Westminster,  Elizabeth  bear- 
ing the  crown  before  her.  Whitehall  Palace  was  attacked  by  Sir 
Thomas  Wyat's  rebels,  who  "  shotte  divers  arrowes  into  the  courte, 
the  gate  bcying  open  ;"  and  looking  out  over  the  gate,  the  Queen  par- 
doned the  Kent  men,  with  halters  about  their  necks.  From  the  palace 
the  Princess  Elizabeth  was  taken  captive  to  the  Tower  on  Palm  Sunday, 
1554.  Bishop  Gardiner  died  here  at  midnight,  exclaiming:  "I  have 
sinned  ;  I  have  not  wept  with  Peter." 

Elizabeth  revived  the  pageants  at  Whiteliall,and  built  "  the  Fortress  or 
Castell  of  perfect  Beautie,"  a  large  wooden  bancjueting-house.  Late  in  life 
she  enjoyed  other  recreations :  in  her  sixty-fifth  year  we  find  her  appoint- 
ing a  Frenchman  to  do  feats  upon  a  rope  in  tlie  conduit-court ;  coin- 
minding  the  bear,  the  bull,  and  the  ape,  to  be  baited  in  the  Tilt-yard  ; 
and  wjlemn  dancing  next  day.  In  the  Orchard  of  Whitehall,  the  Lords 
in  Council  met ;  and  in  the  Garden  James  I.  knighted  300  or  400  judges, 
fcTJcants,  docturs-at-law,  &c.    Here  the  Lord  Monteagle  imparted  to 


The  Palace  of  Whitehall  ^69 

the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  the  warning  letter  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot ;  Guy 
Fawkes  was  examined  in  the  King's  bedchamber,  and  earned  hence  to 
the  Tower.  In  this  reign  were  produced  many  "  most  glorious  masques" 
by  Inigo  Jones  and  Ben  Jonson.  Inigo  designed  a  new  palace,  which 
would  have  exceeded  that  of  the  palace  of  Diocletian,  and  would  have 
covered  nearly  twenty-four  acres :  there  are  engraved  views. 

Of  Jones's  magnificent  design,  only  the  Banqueting-house  was  com- 
pleted. Charles  I.  commissioned  Rubens  to  paint  the  ceiling,  and  oy 
his  agency  obtained  the  Cartoons  of  Raphael.  In  the  Cabinet-room  of 
the  palace,  built  also  by  Inigo  Jones,  Charles  assembled  pictures  of 
almost  incalculable  value.  Upon  the  Civil  War  breaking  out,  White- 
hall was  seized  by  the  Parliament,  who,  in  1645,  had  the  masque-house 
pulled  down,  sold  great  part  of  the  paintings  and  statues,  and  burnt  the 
"superstitious  pictures."  Here,  Jan.  29,  1649,  in  the  Cabinet-room 
Charles  last  prayed;  in  the  Horn-chamber  he  was  delivered  to  the 
officers,  and  thence  led  out  to  execution  upon  a  scaffold  in  front  of  the 
Banqueting-house. 

The  King  was  taken  on  the  first  morning  of  his  trial,  Jan.  20,  1649, 
in  a  sedan-chair,  from  Whitehall  to  Cotton  House,  where  he  slept 
pending  his  trial  in  Westminster  Hall ;  after  which  the  King  returned 
to  Whitehall;  but  on  the  night  before  his  execution  he  slept  at  St. 
James's.  On  Jan.  30  he  was  "  most  barbarously  murthered  at  his  own 
door,  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon."  Lord  Leicester  and  Dug- 
dale  state  that  Charles  was  beheaded  at  Whitehall  gate.  The  scaffold 
was  erected  in  front  of  the  Banqueting-house,  in  the  street  now  White- 
hall ;  and  Herbert  states  that  the  King  was  led  out  by  a  "  passage 
broken  through  the  wall,"  on  to  the  scaffold ;  but  Ludlow  states  that 
it  was  out  of  a  window,  according  to  Vertue,  of  a  small  building  north 
of  the  Banqueting-house,  whence  the  King  stepped  upon  the  scaflbld. 
A  picture  of  the  sad  scene,  painted  by  Weesop  in  the  manner  of  Van- 
dyke, shows  the  platform,  extending  only  in  length,  before  two  of  the 
windows,  to  the  commencement  of  the  third  casement.  Weesop  visited 
England  from  Holland  in  1641,  and  quitted  England  in  1649,  saying, 
"  he  would  never  i-eside  in  a  country  where  they  cut  off  their  king's 
head,  and  were  not  ashamed  of  the  action." 

To  Whitehall,  in  1653,  April  20th,  Cromwell  returned  from  the 
House  of  Commons,  with  the  keys  in  his  pocket,  after  dissolving  the 
Long  Parliament,  which  he  subsequently  explained  to  the  Little  or 
Barebones  Parliament.  Here  the  Parliament  desired  Cromwell  to 
"magnify  himself  with  the  title  of  King."  Milton  was  Cromwell's 
Latin  Secretary,  Andrew  Marvell  his  frequent  guest,  with  Waller  hid 


170  The  Palace  of  WJiiichaU. 

friend  and  kinsman,  and  sometimes  the  youthful  Diyden.  Cromwell 
expired  here  Sept.  3,  1658,  "the  double  day  of  victory  and  death." 
Richard  Cromwell  resided  here.  Charles  II.,  at  the  Restoration, 
came  in  grand  procession  of  seven  hours'  duration  from  the  City  to 
Whitehall.  To  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Treasury  Charles 
assigned  the  Cockpit;  and  in  this  locality  their  chambers  have  ever 
since  remained.  Hence  the  phrase  at  the  foot  of  proclamations — 
"  Given  at  the  Cockpit  at  Westminster."  Charles  collected  by  pro- 
clamation the  plate,  hangings,  and  paintings,  which  had  been  pillaged 
from  the  palace.  Evelyn  describes  the  Duchess  of  Portsmouth's  apart- 
ment, "  twice  or  thrice  pulled  down  and  rebuilt  to  satisfy  her  prodiga' 
and  expensive  pleasures  ;"  its  French  tapestry,  "  Japan  cabinets,  screens, 
pendule  clocks,  great  vases  of  v^rought  plate,  table-stands,  chimney- 
furniture,  sconces,  branches,  brasenas,  &c.,  all  of  massive  silver,  and  out 
of  number."  Evelyn  also  sketches  a  Sunday  evening  in  the  palace: — 
"  The  King  sitting  and  toying  with  his  concubines,  Portsmouth,  Cleve- 
land, and  Mazarine,  &c. ;  a  French  boy  singing  love-songs  in  those 
glorious  galleries ;  whilst  about  twenty  of  the  great  courtiers  and  other 
dissolute  persons  were  at  Basset  round  a  large  table,  a  bank  of  at  least 
2000/.  in  gold  before  them.     Six  days  after  was  all  in  dust." 

Charles  II.  died  at  Whitehall;  his  last  hours  have  been  thus  gra- 
phically narrated : — During  the  night  Charles  earnestly  recommended 
the  Duchess  of  Portsmouth  and  her  boy  to  the  care  of  James.  "  And 
do  not,"  he  good-naturedly  added,  "  let  poor  Nelly  starve."  The  Queen 
sent  excuses  for  her  absence  by  Halifax ;  she  said  she  was  too  much 
disordered  to  resume  her  post  by  the  couch,  and  implored  pardon  for 
any  offence  which  she  might  unwittingly  have  given.  "  She  ask  my 
pardon,  poor  woman  I"  cried  the  repentant  King ;  "  I  ask  hers  with  all 
my  heart." 

The  morning  light  began  to  peep  through  the  windows  of  White- 
hall, and  Charles  desired  the  attendants  to  pull  aside  the  curtains,  that 
he  might  once  more  look  at  the  day.  He  remarked  tiiat  it  was  time  to 
wind  up  a  clock  which  stood  near  his  bed.  These  little  circumstances 
were  long  remembered,  because  they  proved  beyond  dispute  that,  when 
he  declared  himself  a  Roman  Catliolic,  he  was  in  full  possession  of  his 
faculties.  He  apologised  to  tliose  who  stood  round  him  all  niglit  foi 
the  trouble  which  he  had  caused.  He  had  lurn,  lie  saiil,  a  most  un- 
conscionable time  dying,  but  he  hoped  they  woukl  excuse  it.  This  was 
the  last  glimpse  of  that  excjuisite  urbanity  so  oftin  found  potent  to 
charm  away  the  resentment  of  a  justly  incenseil  nation.  Soon  after 
dawn  the  speech  of  Uie  dying  man  failed.    Before  ten  his  senses  were 


The  Palace  of  Whitehall.  171 

gone.  Great  numbers  had  repaired  to  the  churches  at  the  hour  of 
morning  service.  When  the  prayer  for  the  King  was  read,  loud  groans 
and  sobs  showed  how  deeply  his  people  felt  for  him.  At  noon,  on 
Friday,  the  6th  February,  1 685,  he  passed  away  without  a  struggle. — 
Macaulay. 

The  palace  was  twice  greatly  damaged  by  fire:  April  10,  1691,  when, 
to  save  the  trouble  of  cutting  a  candle  from  a  pound,  a  kitchenmaid  burnt 
it  off,  and  threw  the  rest  aside  before  the  flame  was  out.  The  fire  began 
at  the  fine  lodgings  of  the  Duchess  of  Portsmouth,  and  burnt  the  long 
gallery,  &c. ;  150  houses  were  burnt,  and  20  blown  up  with  gunpowder. 
But  the  great  fire,  which  finally  destroyed  Whitehall,  broke  out  on 
Tuesday,  Jan.  4,  1697-8,  about  four  in  the  afternoon,  through  the 
neglect  of  a  Dutchwoman  who  had  left  some  linen  to  dry  before  the 
fire  in  Colonel  Stanley's  lodgings.  This  fire  lasted  seventeen  hours ; 
twelve  persons  perished. 

Owing  to  its  low  level,  Whitehall  was  liable  to  floods  from  the  Thames. 

Pepys  tells  a  story  of  the  Countess  of  Castlemaine,  when  the  King  was 

to  sup  with  her  soon  after  the  birth  of  her  son,  the  Duke  of  Grafton. 

The  cook  came  and  told  the  imperious  countess  that  the  water  had 

flooded  the  kitchen,  and  the  chine  of  beef  for  the  supper  could  not  be 

roasted.      "  Zounds  !"  was  her  reply,  "  she  must  set  the  house  on  fire 

but  it  should  be  roasted."     So  it  was  carried,  adds  Pepys,  to  Mrs. 

Sarah's  husband,  and  there  roasted.     Another  picture  of  the  water 

rising  at  Whitehall  is  contained  in  a  Speech  of  Charles  II.  to  the  House 

of  Commons,  in  the  Banqueting  Hall,  March  i,  1661  [2],  in  which  he 

desires  them  so  to  amend  the  ways,  "  that  she  (my  wife)  may  not  find 

Whitehall  surrounded  with  water."     Lord   Doreet  alludes  to  these 

periodical  inundations  in  his  well-known  song,  "  To  all  you  ladies  now 

at  land": — 

"The  King,  with  wonder  and  surprize, 
Will  swear  the  seas  grow  bold ; 
Because  the  tides  stili  higher  rise 

Than  e'er  they  did  of  old  ; 
But  let  them  know  it  is  our  tears 

Bring  floods  of  grief  to  Whitehall  Stairs. 

With  a  fa  la,  la,  la,  la." 

Charles's  successor  was  immediately  proclaimed  at  the  palace-gate. 
James  II.  resided  here:  he  washed  the  feet  of  the  poor  with  his  own 
hands  on  Maundy  Thursday  in  the  Chapel  Royal :  here  he  admitted 
Penn,  the  Quaker,  to  his  private  closet ;  and  he  rebuilt  the  chapel  for 
Romish  worship,  with  marble  statues  by  Gibbons,  and  a  fresco  by 
Verrio.     The  King  also  erected  upon  the  Banqueting-house  a  large 


1^2  The  Palace  of  Whitehall. 

weathercock,  that  he  might  calculate  by  the  wind  the  probable  arrival  of 
the  Dutch  fleet.  On  Dec.  i8,  1688,  King  James  left  Whitehall  in  the 
state-barge,  never  to  return. 

Remains  of  ancient  Whitehall  have  been  from  time  to  time  dis- 
covered. In  1831,  Mr.  Sydney  Smirke,  F.S.A.,  in  the  basement  of 
•  Cromwell  House,"  Whitehall-yard,  found  a  stone-built  and  groined 
Tudor  apartment — undoubtedly  a  relic  of  Wolsey's  palace.  Mr.  Smirke 
also  found  a  Tudor  arched  doorway,  with  remains  of  the  arms  of 
Wolsey  and  the  see  of  York  in  the  spandrels;  and  in  1847  were  re- 
moved the  last  remains  of  York  House,  a  Tudor  embattled  doorway, 
which  had  been  built  into  a  later  fa9ade  of  the  Treasury.  The  Ban- 
queting Hall  is  now  a  chapel ;  but  it  has  never  been  consecrated. 

Among  the  relics,  comparatively  but  little  known,  is  a  range  of  cham- 
bers, with  groined  roofings  of  stone,  at  the  Rolls  Offices  in  Whitehall 
Gardens ;  which,  probably,  are  a  portion  of  the  ancient  Palace  of  White- 
hall. Part  of  the  external  wall  of  these  remains  is  still  visible  opposite 
the  statue  of  James  H.  In  Privy  Garden  was  a  dial  set  up  by  Edward 
Gunter,  by  command  of  James  I.,  in  1624.  A  large  stone  pedestal  bore 
four  dials  at  the  four  comers,  and  "the  great  horizontal  concave"  in 
the  centre ;  besides  four  others  at  the  sides.  In  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 
this  dial  was  defaced  by  an  intoxicated  nobleman  of  the  Court : 

"  This  place  for  a  dial  was  too  unsecure, 

Since  a  guard  and  a  garden  could  not  defend  ; 
For  so  near  to  the  Court  they  will  never  endure 
Any  witness  to  show  how  their  time  they  misspend." 

Marvel  I. 

In  the  court-yard  facing  the  Banqueting-house  was  another  curious 
dial,  set  up  in  1669  by  order  of  Charles  II.,  by  one  Francis  Hall,  alias 
Lyne,  a  Jesuit.  It  consisted  of  five  stages  rising  in  a  pyramidal  form, 
and  bearing  several  vertical  and  reclining  dials,  globes  cut  into  planes, 
and  glass  bowls ;  showing  "  besides  the  houres  of  all  kinds,"  "  many 
things  also  belonging  to  geography,  astrology,  and  astronomy,  by  the 
sun's  shadow."  Among  the  pictures  were  portraits  of  the  King,  the 
two  Queens,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  Prince  Rupert.  Father  Lyne 
published  a  long  description  of  this  dial,  which  consisted  of  seventy- 
three  parts, 

A  curious  instance  of  the  punishmenv  generally  inflicted  for  strikhifrin 
the  King's  Court  was  the  F.arl  of  Devonshire'  being  fined  in  1687  in  the 
•urn  of  30,000/.  for  striking  Culpepper  with  his  cane  in  the  Vane  Chamber 
at  WhitctuU. 


173 


Durham  House, 

All  that  part  of  the  Strand  now  known  as  the  Adelphi  was 
I'ormerly  occupied  by  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  old  Strand 
palaces — Durham  House. 

Pennant  says  the  original  founder  was  Anthony  de  Beck,  Patriarch 
of  Jerusalem  and  Bishop  of  Durham,  in  the  reign  of  Edward 
I.  ;  and  that  Bishop  Hatfield,  to  whom  Stow  ascribes  the  founda- 
tion, merely  rebuilt  the  place.  The  latter  historian  describes  a 
great  feast  that  was  held  here  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VHI.,  on  the 
occasion  of  a  jousting  or  tournament  which  was  held  at  West- 
minster, in  1540,  when  the  challengers  not  only  feasted  the  King, 
Queen,  ladies,  and  all  the  Court  at  Durham  House,  but  also  all  the 
knights  and  burgesses  of  the  Commons  House  of  Parliament,  and 
entertained  the  Mayor  of  London,  with  the  Aldermen  and  their  wives, 
at  a  dinner. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  the  Royal  Mint  was  established  here, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Lord  Admiral  Seymour,  who  placed  a 
creature  of  his  own,  Sir  William  Sharrington,  in  it  as  master.  He 
calculated  on  thus  obtaining  great  assistance  in  his  ambitious  pro- 
jects ;  but,  as  is  well  known,  they  were  frustrated,  and  his  lordship 
was  brought  to  the  scaffold.  After  his  execution,  Durham  House 
passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  the  uncle  of 
the  unfortunate  Lady  Jane  Grey  ;  and  it  was  here,  in  the  beginning 
of  May,  1553,  that  scheming  and  ambitious  noble  beheld  the  first 
part  of  his  plan,  in  reference  to  the  throne,  accomplished,  by  the 
marriage  of  his  fourth  son.  Lord  Guildford  Dudley,  to  Lady  Jane.  To 
strengthen  himself  as  much  as  possible  by  other  powerful  alliances, 
his  daughter,  Lady  Catherine  Dudley,  at  the  same  time  married 
the  eldest  son  of  the  Earl  of  Huntingdon,  and  a  sister  of  Lady 
Jane's  the  son  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke.  The  end  of  all  these 
arrangements  was  soon  to  be  known.  The  young  king  died  on 
the  6th  of  July  following ;  and  Northumberland,  after  two  days' 
delay,  exhibited  the  will  of  the  deceased  monarch  declaring  Lady 
Jane  Grey  his  successor,  to  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Aldermen  of 
London,  and  obtained  their  oaths  of  allegiance.  Two  days  after- 
wards Lady  Jane  was  conducted  from  Durham  House  to  the 
Tower,  and  openly  received  as  queen,  much,  however,  to  the  sorrow 
of  the  amiable  victim  herself,  who  had  been  reluctantly  induced  to 


1/4  Durham  House. 

enter  into  the  schemes  of  her  ambitious  and  calculating  relative. 
Seldom  indeed  has  a  more  pitiable  sacrifice  been  offered  up  on  the 
altar  of  ambition  !  Young,  brilliant,  learned,  and  amiable,  she  at  th( 
same  time  possessed  all  those  womanly  qualities  that  would  havd 
cheered,  adorned,  or  elevated  the  domestic  hearth.  The  people  of 
England,  however,  resented  the  unscrupulous  conduct  of  Nor- 
thumberland, and,  with  the  true  English  instinct  of  loyalty,  rallied 
round  Mary  ;  and  a  numerous  body  of  adherents  having  been  got 
together,  the  duke  collected  all  his  retinue  at  Durham  House,  and 
set  out  at  the  head  of  6000  men  to  attack  them.  In  his  absence, 
the  council  went  over  in  a  body  to  Mary ;  his  troops  deserted  ;  and, 
at  last,  to  save  his  life,  he  endeavoured  to  make  a  virtue  of  necessity 
by  proclaiming  Queen  Mary  at  Cambridge.  To  all  readers  of 
English  history  the  result  is  but  too  well  known.  The  innocent  and 
the  guilty  fell  together.  The  duke  was  beheaded  on  the  22nd  of 
August,  1553  ;  and  in  the  following  November  Lady  Jane  and  her 
husband  were  condemned.  For  a  time  Mary  hesitated,  however, 
to  pronounce  sentence  of  death  against  the  young  couple  ;  but  at 
length,  on  the  8th  of  February,  she  issued  the  fatal  warrant,  and 
four  days  after  both  were  executed. 

The  annals  of  Greece  and  Rome  show  nothing  equal  to  the  calm 
heroism  and  grandeur  of  soul  displayed  by  this  innocent  girl  in  the 
last  scenes  of  her  unhappy  prison  life.  "  The  twclfe  of  Februarie," 
we  quote  the  quaint,  touching  language  of  the  old  chronicler, 
Hollinshcd,  "being  Mondaie,  about  ten  of  the  clocke,  there  went 
out  of  the  Tower,  to  the  scaffold  on  Tower  Hill,  the  Lord  Gilford 
Dudlie,  Sonne  to  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  husband  to  the 
Ladie  Jane  Greie  ....  and  without  the  bulwarke  gate,  Master 
Thomas  Offlie,  one  of  the  Sheriffes  of  London,  received  him,  and 
brought  him  to  the  scaffold,  where,  after  a  small  declaration,  he 
kneiled  doune  and  said  his  praiers.  Then  holding  up  his  eyes  and 
hands  to  Heaven,  with  tears  he  desired  the  people  to  praie  for  him, 
and  after  that  he  was  beheaded.  His  bodic  being  laid  in  a  carte, 
and  his  head  into  a  cloth,  was  brought  into  the  chapcll  within  the 
Tower,  where  the  Ladie  Jane,  whose  lodging  was  in  Maister  Par- 
tridge's house,  did  sec  his  dead  carcasse  taken  out  of  the  carte,  as 
well  as  she  did  see  him  before  while  living,  and  going  to  his  death, 
a  sight,  as  may  be  supposed,  to  her  worse  than  death. 

"IJy  this  time  there  was  a  scaffold  made  upon  the  Greene,  over 
against  the  white  tower,  for  the  Ladie  Jane  to  die  upon  ;  and  being 
nothing  at  all  abashed,  neither  with  the  fcarc  of  her  owne  death, 


Durham  House.  175 

which  then  approached,  neither  with  the  sight  of  the  dead  carcasse 
of  her  husband  when  he  was  brought  into  the  chapell,  came  forth, 
the  heutenant  leading  her,  with  countenance  nothing  abashed, 
neither  her  eies  anything  moistened  with  teares,  with  a  booke  in 
hir  hand,  wherein  she  praied  untill  she  came  to  the  scaffold. 
Whereon,  when  she  was  mounted,  this  noble  young  ladie,  as  she 
was  indued  with  singular  gifts  both  of  learning  and  knowledge,  so 
was  she  patient  and  mild  as  anie  lamb,  at  her  execution,  and  a 
little  before  hir  death,  uttered  these  words  : — '  Good  people,  I  come 
hether  to  die,  and  by  a  lawe  I  am  condemned  to  the  same.  My 
offense  against  the  Queene's  Highnesse  was  onlie  in  consent  to  the 
advice  of  others,  which  is  now  deemed  treason,  but  it  was  never  of 
my  seeking,  but  by  counscll  of  those  who  should  seeme  to  have 
further  understanding  than  I,  which  knewe  little  of  the  lawe,  and 
much  less  of  the  titles  to  the  crowne.  Touching  the  procurement 
and  desyre  thereof  by  mc,  or  on  my  halfe,  I  do  wash  my  hands 
thereof,  in  innocency  before  God  and  before  you,  good  Christian 
people,  this  day.'  And  thirwith  she  wrung  hir  handes  in  which  she 
had  hir  booke.  Then  she  sayd,  '  I  pray  you  all,  good  Christian 
people,  to  bere  me  witnesse  that  I  die  a  true  Christian  woman,  and 
that  I  looke  to  be  saved  by  none  other  men  but  onlie  by  the  mcrcie 
of  God,  in  the  meritcs  of  the  blood  of  his  onlie  Sonne  Jesus  Christe  : 
and  I  confesse  that  when  I  knewe  the  worde  of  God,  I  neglected 
t  le  same,  and  loved  myselfe  and  the  world,  and  therefore  this 
plague  and  punishment  is  happily  and  worthily  happened  unto  me 
for  my  sinnes.  And  yet  I  thanke  God  that  he  has  thus  given  me  a 
tyme  and  respet  to  repent.  And  now,  good  people,  while  I  am  alive, 
I  praie  you  assist  me  with  your  praiers.' 

"  And  then,  kneeling  down,  she  turned  to  Fecknam,  saying, '  Shall 
I  say  this  Psalm  i"  and  he  said, '  Yea  ;'  then  she  said  Miserere  met 
Dens  in  English,  most  devoutly  to  the  ende.  Then  she  stode  up, 
and  gave  hir  mayde.  Mistress  Tylney,  hir  gloves  and  hir  hand- 
kercher,  and  hir  booke  to  Maister  Thomas  Brydges,  the  Lyvetenanl's 
brother.  Forthwith  she  untied  hir  goune.  The  headsman  went  to 
hir  to  have  helped  hir  off  therewith  ;  but  she  desyred  him  to  let  hir 
alone,  turning  towards  hir  two  gentlewomen  who  helped  hir  off 
therewith,  and  also  hir  neckcrcher,  giving  to  hir  a  fayre  handkercher 
to  knyt  about  hir  eyes.  Then  the  headsman  kneeled  down  and 
asked  hir  forgiveness,  whome  she  forgave  most  willingly.  Then 
she  said,  '  I  pray  you  despatche  me  quickly.'  Then  she  kneeled 
down,  saying,  '  Will  you  take  it  off  before  I  lay  me  down  ?'    And 


iy6  Durham  House, 

the  headsman  answered  her,  '  No,  Madame.'  She  tied  the  Icercher 
about  hir  eyes.  Then,  feeling  for  the  blocke,  said,  '  What  shall  I 
do?  Where  is  it?'  One  of  the  standers-by  guiding  hir  thereunto, 
she  layd  hir  head  upon  the  blocke,  and  stretched  forth  hir  body  and 
said,  '  Lord,  into  thy  hands  I  commende  my  spirit' — and  so  she 
ended." 

Well  might  another  chronicler,  on  concluding  his  own  account 
of  this  cruel  deed,  exclaim — 

"  Though  with  dry  eyes  this  story  may  be  read, 
A  flood  of  tears  the  pitying  writer  shed." 

The  next  eminent  inhabitant  was  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  to  whora 
the  house  was  granted  by  Queen  Elizabeth  ;  but  the  grant  appears 
to  have  been  made  without  sufficient  legal  right  in  the  maker,  for 
Sir  Walter  was  ultimately  dispossessed  of  it  by  the  Bishops  of 
Durham.  With  the  house,  however.  Sir  Walter  appears  to  have 
inherited  the  fate  of  his  unfortunate  predecessors ;  for  he  also,  as  is 
well  known,  died  by  the  hands  of  the  headsman  !  As  the  last  dis- 
tinguished occupant  of  the  house,  and  as  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  of  his  age,  every  incident  in  whose  romantic  and 
chequered  career  reads  like  that  of  a  romance,  the  following 
account  of  some  of  the  later  circumstances  of  his  life  cannot  fail 
to  be  interesting: — With  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  in  1603,  the 
brilliant  and  prosperous  portion  of  Raleigh's  career  terminated. 
Her  mean  and  pusillanimous  successor,  James,  from  the  first  re- 
garded him  with  a  suspicion  and  dislike  which  he  never  cared  to 
conceal.  And  as  he  had  besides  made  some  powerful  enemies,  his 
ruin  was  resolved  on,  and  means  were  soon  found  to  compass  it. 
Having  been  accused  of  participating  in  a  plot  against  the  king, 
though  not  a  particle  of  evidence  of  his  having  been  in  any  way 
connected  with  it  was  produced  at  his  trial,  a  verdict  finding  him 
guilty  of  high  treason  was  readily  procured,  and  sentence  of  death 
was  passed  on  him.  As  James,  however,  did  not  venture  to  exe- 
cute him,  he  remained  for  thirteen  years  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower, 
his  estates  being  confiscated  and  assigned  to  the  king's  favourite, 
the  upstart  Carr,  afterwards  Earl  of  Somerset.  In  16 15,  he  pro- 
cured his  release,  and  sailed  for  tniiana.  The  expedition,  from 
which  great  results  were  anticipated,  was,  however,  a  miserable 
failure ;  and,  to  add  to  his  grief  and  mortification,  his  eldest  and 
favourite  son  was  killed  in  the  storming  of  the  Spanish  town  of  St. 
Thomas.  Broken  in  spirit  and  ruined  in  fortunes,  therefore, 
Raleigh  returned  to  England  to  die. 


Durham  House.  lyj 

Having  landed  in  his  native  county  of  Devon,  he  was  summoned 
to  appear  in  London  ;  and  on  repairing  thither,  was  immediately- 
seized,  and  committed  to  the  Tower.  After  having  been  confined 
for  some  time,  he  was  one  morning  taken  out  of  his  bed  in  a  fit  of 
fever,  and  unexpectedly  hurried  before  his  judges  to  hear  sentence 
of  death  pronounced  upon  him.  This  was  done,  it  is  alleged,  at 
the  desire  of  James,  for  the  purpose  of  appeasing  the  wrath  of 
Spain,  against  whose  colonies  Raleigh's  last  expedition  had  been 
directed. 

But  though  fallen,  he  was  not  conquered  by  fate.  Death  he 
resolved  to  meet  after  "  the  high  Roman  fashion  !"  The  bishop 
who  attended  him,  and  the  lords  about  him,  were  astonished  to 
witness  his  serenity  of  demeanour.  On  the  very  last  night  of  his 
existence,  when  some  of  his  friends  were  lamenting  his  fate,  he 
calmly  observed  that  the  world  itself  was  but  a  larger  prison,  out 
of  which  some  were  daily  selected  for  death.  His  lady  visited  him 
that  night,  and  amidst  her  tears  she  told  him  she  had  obtained  the 
favour  of  disposing  of  his  body  ;  to  v  hich  he  answered,  smiling, 
"  It  is  well,  Bess,  that  thou  mayst  dispose  of  that  dead  which  thou 
hadst  not  always  the  disposing  of  when  alive  !"'  At  midnight  she 
left  him  ;  and  it  is  then  that  Sir  Walter  is  supposed  to  have  written 
the  well-known  lines  on  his  death,  which  were  found  next  morning 
in  his  Bible  :— 

"  Even  such  is  Time,  that  takes  on  trust 
Our  youth,  our  joys,  our  all  we  have, 
And  pays  us  but  with  age  and  dust ; 
Who  in  the  dark  and  silent  grave, 
When  we  have  wandered  all  our  ways, 
Shuts  up  the  story  of  our  days  ! 
And  from  which  grave,  and  earth,  and  dust. 
The  lyord  will  raise  me  up,  I  trust." 

On  the  morning  of  his  death  he  smoked  as  usual  his  favourite 
tobacco ;  and  when  they  brought  him  a  cup  of  sack,  and  asked  him 
how  he  liked  it,  he  answered,  "  As  the  fellow  that,  drinking  of  St. 
Giles's  bowl  as  he  went  to  Tyburn,  said,  '  That  is  good  drink,  if  a 
man  might  tarry  by  it.'"  On  the  scafTold  he  preserved  the  same 
cheerfulness  of  manner.  Having  requested  the  headsman  to  show 
him  the  axe,  he  passed  the  edge  lightly  over  his  fingers,  and, 
smiling,  observed  to  the  sheriff,  "  This  is  a  sharp  medicine,  but  a 
sound  cure  for  all  diseases  !"  He  then  laid  his  head  on  the  block 
with  these  words,  "  So  the  heart  be  right,  it  is  no  matter  how  the 
head  lies." 

♦  N 


178  Cavipden  House,  Kensington. 

Thus  nobly  died  the  last  distinguished  occupant  of  Durham 
House. 


Campden  House,  Kensington. 

Campden  House  was  built  on  the  high  ground  of  Kensington, 
over  two  centuries  and  a  half  ago.  It  belonged  to  a  more  pic- 
turesque age  of  architecture  than  the  present ;  and  though  yielding 
in  extent  and  beauty  to  its  more  noble  neighbour,  Holland  House, 
built  within  five  years  of  the  same  date,  and  which  in  many  re- 
spects it  resembled,  was  still  a  very  interesting  structure. 

The  Campden  House  estate  was  purchased  by  Sir  Baptist  Hicks 
from  Sir  Walter  Cope,  or,  according  to  a  popular  tradition,  was 
won  of  him  at  some  game  of  chance  ;  and  the  house  was  built  for 
Sir  Baptist  about  the  year  161 2.  His  arms,  with  that  date,  and 
those  of  his  sons-in-law,  Edward  Lord  Noel,  and  Sir  Charles 
Morison,  were  emblazoned  on  a  large  bay  window  of  the  house. 

Baptist  Hicks  was  the  youngest  son  of  a  wealthy  silk-mercer  in 
Cheapside.  He  was  brought  up  to  his  father's  business,  in  which 
he  amassed  a  large  fortune.  In  1603,  he  was  knighted  by  James 
I.  He  was  created  a  baronet  in  July,  1620 ;  and  was  further 
advanced  to  the  peerage  as  Baron  Hicks  of  Ilmington,  in  the 
county  of  Warwick,  and  Viscount  Campden,  in  Gloucestershire,  in 
May,  1628.  He  died  at  his  house  in  the  Old  Jewry  on  the  i8th  of 
October,  1629,  and  was  buried  at  Campden.  He  had  two 
daughters,  coheiresses,  who  are  reputed  to  have  had  100,000/.  each 
for  their  fortune.  The  eldest,  Juliana,  married  Lord  Noel,  to  whom 
the  title  fell  at  the  first  Viscount's  death;  Mary,  the  youngest 
daughter,  married  Sir  Charles  Morison,  of  Cassiobury,  Herts. 
Baptist,  the  third  Lord  Campden,  who  was  a  zealous  royalist,  lost  a 
large  amount  of  property  during  the  Civil  War ;  but  was  allowed 
to  retain  his  estates  on  paying  the  sum  of  9000/.  as  a  composition, 
and  settling  150/.  per  annum  on  the  Commonwealth  Ministry. 

At  the  Restoration,  the  King  honoured  Lord  Campden  with 
special  notice  ;  and  it  is  recorded  in  one  of  the  journals  of  the  day, 
that,  on  the  8th  of  June,  1666,  "  His  Majesty  was  pleased  to  sup 
with  Lord  Campden  at  Kensington."  In  1662,  an  act  was  passed 
for  settling  Campden  House  on  this  nobleman  and  his  heirs  for 
ever;  and  in  1667,  his  son-in-law,  Montague  Bertie,  Earl  of 
Lind»ey,  who  so  nobly  distinguished  himself  by  his  filial  piety  at 


Campden  House,  Kensington,  179 

the  battle  of  Edge  Hill,  and  who  was  wounded  at  Naseby,  died  in 
this  house. 

In  1691,  Anne,  Princess  of  Denmark,  hired  Campden  House 
from  the  Noel  family,  and  resided  there  for  about  five  years  with 
her  son,  William,  Duke  of  Gloucester,  then  heir-presumptive  to  the 
throne.  The  young  duke's  amusements  were  chiefly  of  a  military 
cast ;  and  at  a  very  early  age  he  formed  a  regiment  of  boys,  chiefly 
from  Kensington,  who  were  on  constant  duty  here.  King  William 
placed  him  under  the  care  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough  and  Bishop 
Burnet.  In  giving  him  into  the  hands  of  the  former,  the  King 
said,  "  Teach  him  to  be  what  you  are,  and  my  nephew  cannot  want 
accon>plishments."  The  bishop,  who  had  superintended  his  edu- 
cation for  some  years,  describes  him  as  an  amiable  and  accom- 
plished prince,  but  of  weak  constitution.  "  We  hoped  the  dangerous 
time  was  over,  however,"  says  the  bishop.  "  His  birthday  was  on 
the  24th  of  July,  1700,  and  he  was  then  eleven  years  old  ;  he  com- 
plained the  next  day,  but  we  imputed  that  to  the  fatigue  of  a  birth- 
day, so  that  he  was  too  much  neglected ;  the  day  after  he  grew 
much  worse,  and  it  proved  to  be  a  malignant  fever.  He  died  on 
^he  fourth  day  of  his  illness  ;  he  was  the  only  remaining  child  of 
seventeen  that  the  Princess  had  borne." 

In  1704,  Campden  House  was  in  the  occupation  of  the  Dov/ager 
Countess  of  Burlington,  and  of  her  son,  the  architect  Earl,  then  in 
his  ninth  year.  In  the  latter  part  of  Queen  Anne's  reign,  Campden 
House  was  sold  to  Nicholas  Lechmere,  an  eminent  lawyer,  who 
became  successively  Chancellor  of  the  Duchy  of  Lancaster  and 
Attorney-General.  In  1721  he  was  created  a  peer,  and  Swift'? 
ballad  of  "  Duke  upon  Duke,"  in  which  the  following  lines  occur, 
had  its  origin  in  a  quarrel  between  his  lordship,  who  then  occupied 
the  mansion,  and  Sir  John  Guise  : — 

"  Back  in  the  dark,  by  Brompton  Park, 

Ke  turned  up  through  the  Gore, 
So  slunk  to  Campden  House  so  high, 

All  in  his  coach  and  four. 
The  Duke  in  wrath  called  for  his  steeds. 

And  fiercely  drove  them  on  ; 
Lord !  Lord !  how  rattled  then  thy  stones, 

O  kingly  Kensington  !" 

The  house  was  built  of  brick,  with  stone  finishings  ;  and  Bowack, 
in  his  "Antiquities  of  Middlesex,"  describes  it  as  a  "very  noble 
pile,  and  finished  with  all  the  art  the  architects  of  that  time  were 
masters  of."    The  principal  or  southern  front  of  three  stories  con* 

N  2 


I  So  Northumberland  House, 

sisted  of  three  bays,  flanked  by  two  square  turrets  surmounted  with 
cupolas  ;  the  central  bay  having  an  enriched  Jacobean  entrance 
porch,  with  the  Campden  arms  sculptured  above  the  first-floor  bay 
windows  ;  a  pierced  parapet  above,  and  dormer  windows  in  the 
roof.  Towards  the  latter  end  of  the  last  century  the  house  under- 
went considerable  external  alterations ;  but  the  interior  remained 
to  the  last  pretty  much  as  at  first.  Faulkner,  in  his  "  Histoiy  and 
Antiquities  of  Kensington,"  describes  the  entrance  hall  as  lined 
with  oak  panelling,  and  as  having  a  great  archway  leading  to  the 
grand  staircase.  The  great  dining-room,  in  which  Charles  II. 
supped  with  Lord  Campden,  was  richly  carved  in  oak,  the  ceiling 
being  stuccoed,  and  ornamented  with  the  arms  of  the  Campden 
family.  The  chief  attraction  of  this  room,  however,  was  the 
tabernacle  oak  mantel-piece,  consisting  of  six  Corinthian  columns 
supporting  a  pediment,  the  intercolumniations  being  filled  with 
grotesque  devices,  and  the  whole  supported  by  two  car>'atidal 
figures  finely  carved.  The  state  apartments  consisted  of  three 
large  rooms  facing  the  south  ;  that  on  the  cast,  "  Queen  Anne's 
bedchamber,"  had  an  enriched  plaster  ceiling,  with  pendants,  and 
the  walls  were  hung  with  red  damask  tapestry  in  imitation  of  foliage. 
The  central  apartment  had  its  laige  bay  window  filled  with  painted 
glass,  showing  the  arms  of  Sir  Baptist  Hicks,  Lord  Noel,  and  Sir 
Charles  Morison,  and  the  date  of  the  erection  of  the  mansion,  1612. 
The  apartment  adjoining  had  its  plaster  ceiling  enriched  with  arms* 
and  a  mantel-piece  of  various  marbles. 

This  fine  old  mansion,  and  fitting  ornament  of  the  old  court 
suburb,  was  destroyed  by  fire  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  the  23rd 
of  Maich,  1862. — Abridged  from  the  Book  of  Days. 


Northumberland  House. 

Northumberland  House,  the  last  of  the  grand  old  palaces  of  the 
Strand,  stands  on  the  site  of  an  hospital  or  chapel  dedicated  to 
St.  Mary,  and  which  was  founded  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  by 
William,  Earl  of  Pembroke,  on  a  piece  of  ground  which  he  had 
given  to  the  Priory  of  Rouncivallc  in  Navarre.  In  the  reign  cf 
Henry  V.  the  hospital  was  suppressed,  as  belonging  to  an  alien 
monastery,  with  all  the  other  houses  of  that  kind  in  tho  kingdom, 
but  was  again  restored  by  Edward  IV.,  to  be  linally  dibsolved  at 


Nortliinnbcrland  House.  l8l 

the  Rerormation.  About  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  site  passed  into  the  possession  of  Henry  Howard,  Earl  of 
Northampton,  son  of  the  poet  Surrey,  who  erected  a  magnificent 
mansion,  and  who  died  here  in  1614.  Descending  then  to  the  Earl 
of  Suffolk  the  name  was  changed  from  Northampton  to  Suffolk 
House,  and  again  to  the  present  title,  Northumberland  House,  on 
the  marriage  of  the  daughter  of  the  second  Earl  of  Suffolk  with 
Algernon  Percy,  tenth  Earl  of  Northumberland. 

The  edifice  originally  consisted  of  three  sides  of  a  spacious 
quadrangle,  the  fourth,  facing  the  Thames,  being  open.  Bernard 
Jansen  is  said  to  have  been  the  architect ;  but  the  front  is  supposed 
to  be  from  the  designs  of  Gerard  Christmas,  who  rebuilt  Aldersgate 
in  the  reign  of  James  I.  The  principal  apartments  were  originally 
on  the  Strand  side,  but  Earl  Algernon,  who  disliked  the  noise  of 
that  crowded  thoroughfare,  had  the  quadrangle  completed  by  a 
fourth  side,  containing  the  state  rooms  towards  the  river,  under  the 
direction  of  Inigo  Jones.  About  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
two  new  wings  were  attached  to  the  garden  front,  and  all  but  the 
central  division  (including  the  gateway,  the  work  of  Christmas,)  o^ 
the  front  next  the  Strand  was  rebuilt. 

Immediately  behind  that  long  front,  with  its  conspicuous  lion, 
the  famous  badge  of  the  Percies,  extends  a  spacious  courtyard 
surrounded  by  the  buildings  just  mentioned.  From  the  principal 
entrance,  a  magnificent  staircase,  lighted  by  a  beautiful  lantern, 
leads  to  the  principal  apartments  ;  the  stairs  and  landings  of  white 
marble  contrasting  finely  with  the  rich  carpets  which  partially  cover 
them,  and  with  the  gilt-bronzed  balusters  and  chandeliers.  The 
mansion  is  rich  in  works  of  art.  Evelyn  visited  the  house  in  June, 
1658,  and  has  recorded  an  account  of  it  in  his  Diary,  and  given  an 
inventory  of  the  pictures.  The  collection  has  been  greatly  increased 
since  his  time,  and  is  now  of  very  great  value.  In  the  dining-room 
is  Titian's  celebrated  picture  of  the  Cornaro  family,  said  to  be  one 
of  the  painter's  masterpieces  ;  a  Sebastian  bound,  by  Guercino  ;  a 
small  Adoration  of  the  Shepherds,  by  Giacomo  Bassano ;  a  Fox 
and  Deer  Hunt  by  Snyders ;  a  Holy  Family  by  Jordaens,  and  a 
picture  containing  three  portraits  by  Vandyke.  In  the  long  and  lofty 
gallery,  a  most  splendidly  orrwimented  place,  are  copies  of  several 
great  pictures  by  Raphael,  Annibale  Carracci,  and  Guido  Reni,  of 
more  than  ordinary  excellence.  The  drawing-room  is  richly  deco- 
rated with  arabesques  intermingled  with  paintings.  There  is  also 
a  suite  of  three  magnificently-decorated  apartments  used  for  the 


iS2  NorthiLviberland  House. 

reception  of  evening  parties.  From  the  windows  are  seen  the  beau, 
tiful  gardens  extending  down  towards  the  Thames,  and  forming  a 
noble  background  to  the  picture. 

It  was  in  this  grand  old  mansion,  in  1660,  that  General  Monk, 
afterwards  Duke  of  Albemarle,  and  many  of  the  principal  nobility 
and  gentry  of  the  kingdom  who  agreed  in  his  views,  met,  by  invita- 
tion of  Earl  Algernon,  to  concert  measures  for  the  restoration  of 
Charles  1 1.  Here,  too,  cluster  many  social  and  political  associations. 
Horace  Walpole,  in  his  amusing  correspondence,  makes  frequent 
mention  of  the  social  doings  here  in  his  time.  It  was  from  Nor- 
thumberland House  that  Horace  sallied  with  a  gay  party  to  pay  a 
visit  to  the  Cock  Lane  ghost  !  And,  as  a  characteristic  sketch  of 
the  frivolous  manners  of  the  upper  classes  of  the  period,  his  account 
of  it  is  really  worth  recording.  "  We  set  out,"  he  says,  "  from  the 
opera,  changed  our  clothes  at  Northumberland  House,  the  Duke 
of  York,  Lady  Northumberland,  Lady  Mary  Coke,  Lord  Hertford, 
and  I,  all  in  one  hackney  coach,  and  drove  to  the  spot.  It  rained 
torrents  ;  yet  the  Lane  was  full  of  mob,  and  the  house  so  full,  we 
could  not  get  in.  At  last  they  discovered  ii:  was  the  Duke  of  York, 
and  the  company  squeezed  themselves  into  one  another's  pockets 
to  make  room  for  us.  When  we  opened  the  chamber,  in  whiclr, 
were  fifty  people,  with  no  light  but  one  tallow  candle  at  the  end, 
we  tumbled  over  the  bed  of  the  child  to  whom  the  ghost  comes,  and 
whom  they  are  murdering  by  inches  in  such  insufferable  heat  and 
stench.  At  the  top  of  the  room  are  ropes  to  dry  clothes.  I  asked 
if  we  were  to  have  rope-dancing  between  the  acts.  We  had  nothing. 
They  told  us,  as  they  would  at  a  puppet-show,  that  it  would  not  come 
that  night  till  seven  in  the  morning ;  that  is,  when  there  are  only 
'prentices  and  old  women.  We  stayed,  however,  till  half  an  hour 
after  one !" 

What  a  commentary  on  the  past !—  a  prince  of  the  blood,  two 
noble  ladies,  a  peer,  and  the  son  of  a  prime  minister,  packing  in 
one  hackney  coach  from  Northumberland  House  on  a  winter's 
night,  and,  in  a  dirty  lane  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Smithfield, 
watching  till  half-past  one  by  the  light  of  a  tallow  candle,  amidst 
fifty  of  the  "  unwashed"  for  the  arrival  of  a  ghost  I 


183 


The  Priory  or  Monastery  of  the  Black  Friars. 

A  little  to  the  south  of  Ludgate  Hill,  and  overlooking  the  Thames, 
there  formerly  stood  one  of  the  most  magnificent  of  the  great 
religious  establishments  which  formed  at  one  period  so  marked  a 
feature  of  London,  and  which  has  left  to  the  locality  a  long  train  of 
the  most  interesting  recollections,  of  which  the  name  given  to  the 
district,  the  bridge,  and  the  neighbouring  road  is  now  the  only 
existing  memorial. 

The  order  of  the  Black  friars  came  into  England  in  1221.  Their 
first  house  was  at  Oxford  ;  their  second  in  London,  at  Holborn,  or 
Oldbourne,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by  Lincoln's  Inn.  The  cause  of 
their  removal  from  thence  is  not  now  known  ;  but  it  appears  that  in 
1276  Gregory  Rocksley,  then  mayor,  in  conjunction  with  the  barons 
of  the  city,  gave  to  Robert  Kilwarby,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  a 
cardinal  of  Rome  and  an  ecclesiastic  of  more  than  ordinary  ability, 
a  grant  of  "  two  lanes  or  ways  next  the  street  of  Baynard's  Castle, 
and  also  the  tower  of  Montfichet,  to  be  destroyed,"  for  the  erection 
of  a  house  and  church  for  the  Black  friars,  and  there  they  finally 
settled.  Out  of  the  materials  of  the  Castle  of  Montfichet,  which 
had  been  founded  by  a  follower  of  the  Conqueror's,  Kilwarby  reared 
a  magnificent  church.  Here  the  order  grew  and  prospered.  A 
striking  instance  of  the  favour  shown  to  the  brotherhood  was  given 
in  the  permission  of  Edward  I.  for  the  taking  down  of  the  city  wall 
from  Ludgate  (just  above  the  end  of  the  Old  Bailey)  to  the  Thames 
for  their  accommodation,  which  was  then  rebuilt,  so  as  to  include 
their  buildings  within  its  shelter.  The  expenses  of  this  rebuilding, 
and  of  a  "  certain  good  and  comely  tower  at  the  bend  of  the  said 
wall,"  wherein  the  king  might  be  "  received,  and  tarry  with  honour" 
to  his  ease  and  satisfaction  in  his  comings  there,  were  defrayed  by 
a  toll  granted  for  three  years  on  various  articles  of  merchandise. 
Nor  did  the  king's  liberality  end  here.  All  kinds  of  special  privi- 
leges and  exemptions  were  granted  to  the  house  and  its  precincts. 
Shops  could  be  opened  here  without  being  free  of  the  city ;  felons 
flying  from  justice  found  refuge  within  its  walls  ;  and  the  inhabi- 
tants were  governed  by  the  prior  and  their  own  justices. 

The  estimation  in  which  the  order  was  held  is  shown  by  the  long 
list  of  names  of  eminent  persons  given  by  our  historians  as  having 
been  buried  in  the  church  of  the  Black  friars.     Here  lay  the  ashes 


1 84  The  Priory  or  Monastery  of 

of  Hubert  de  Burgh,  the  great  Earl  of  Kent,  translated  from  the 
church  at  Oldbourne,  and  his  wife  Margaret,  daughter  of  the  King 
of  Scotland  ;  Queen  Eleanor,  whose  heart  alone  was  interred  here, 
with  that  of  Alphonso  her  son  ;  John  of  Eltham,  Duke  of  Cornwall, 
brother  of  Edward  III. ;  Tiptoft,  Earl  of  Worcester,  so  distin- 
guished for  his  intellectual  accomplishments,  who  was  beheaded  in 
1470,  one  of  the  victims  to  the  wars  of  the  Roses ;  Sir  Thomas 
Brandon,  1509,  the  uncle  of  the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  who  took  Henry 
VIII. 's  beautiful  sister  Mary  into  France,  as  the  bride  of  the  French 
king,  and  after  the  death  of  the  latter,  brought  her  back  as  his  own ; 
Sir  Thomas  and  Dame  Parr,  the  parents  of  Henry  VIII.'s  last 
wife  ;  and  earls,  knights,  ladies,  and  other  persons  of  rank  too  nu- 
merous to  mention. 

But  other  and  more  interesting  historical  recollections  belong  to 
the  Church  of  the  Black  friars.  Here,  in  1450,  met  that  famous 
Parliament  of  Henry  VI.,  in  which  his  queen's  favourite,  William 
de  la  Pole,  first  Duke  of  Suffolk,  was  impeached,  and  was  about  to 
be  tried,  when,  by  a  previously  arranged  manoeuvre,  he  placed  him- 
self in  the  hands  of  the  weak  king,  who  banished  him  for  five  years. 
At  an  earlier  period  of  his  career  he  had  been  warned  by  a  wizard 
to  beware  of  water,  and  to  avoid  the  tower.  So  when  his  fall  came, 
and  he  was  ordered  to  leave  England  in  three  days,  he  made  all 
haste  from  London  on  his  way  to  France,  naturally  supposing  that 
the  Tower  of  London,  to  which  traitors  were  conveyed  by  water, 
was  the  place  of  danger  indicated.  On  his  passage  across  the 
Channel,  however,  he  was  captured  by  a  ship  named  Nicholas  oj 
the  Tower,  commanded  by  a  person  named  Walter.  The  duke, 
asking  the  captain  to  be  held  to  ransom,  says  : — 

•*  Look  on  my  George  ;  I  am  a  gentleman  ; 
Rate  me  at  what  thou  wilt,  thou  shalt  be  paid. 

Captain.  And  so  am  I ;  my  name  is  Walter  Whitmore — 
How  now?  why  start'st  thou?    What,  dotl>  death  atTn.<;ht? 
Suffolk.  Thy  name  .aflfrights  me,  in  whose  sound  is  dieath  1 
A  cunning  one  did  calculate  my  birth, 
And  told  me  that  by  water  I  should  die  1" 

Three  days  aftervards,  as  is  well  known,  he  was  beheaded  in  a 
cockboat  by  the  ship's  side. 

Here  also  another  Parliament  rendered  itself  noticeable  by  daring 
to  dcty  Henry  ViII.  when  that  monarch,  in  1524.  demanded  a  sub- 
sidy of  some  800,000/.  to  carry  on  his  useless  wars  m  France,  but 
who  was  oblii;cd  to  content  himself  with  a  much  less  sum.    The 


the  Black  Friars.  1S5 

Chancellor,  Cardinal  Wolsey,  thinking  to  overawe  the  refractory 
members  by  his  presence,  came  into  the  house  with  his  maces, 
poleaxes,  cross,  hat,  and  great  seal,  and  with  a  body  of  followers 
which  filled  every  vacant  part  of  the  place.  But  when  Wolsey, 
after  explaining  his  business,  remained  silent,  expecting  the  house 
to  proceed,  he  v/as  surprised  to  find  the  assemblage  silent  also. 
He  addressed  one  of  the  members  by  name,  who  politely  rose  in 
acknowledgment,  but  sat  down  again  without  speaking  ;  another 
was  addressed,  but  with  no  better  success.  At  last  he  became  im- 
patient, and,  looking  on  the  speaker,  Sir  Thomas  More,  who  was  to 
be  his  still  greater  successor,  he  said  : — "  Masters,  as  I  am  sent 
here  immediately  from  the  king,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  expect  an 
answer  ;  yet  there  is  a  surprising  and  most  obstinate  silence,  unless 
indeed  it  may  be  the  manner  of  your  house  to  express  your  mind 
by  your  speaker  only."  More  immediately  rose,  and  with  equal 
tact  and  courage  said,  the  members  were  abashed  at  the  sight  of 
so  great  a  personage,  whose  presence  was  sufficient  to  overwhelm 
the  wisest  and  most  learned  men  in  the  realm  ;  but  that  his  pre- 
sence was  neither  expedient  nor  in  accordance  with  the  ancient 
liberties  of  the  house.  They  were  not  bound  to  return  any  answer  ; 
and  as  to  a  reply  from  him  individually,  that  was  impossible,  as  he 
could  only  act  on  instructions  from  the  house.  And  so  at  last 
Wolsey  found  it  necessary  to  depart. 

It  was  in  this  church,  also,  on  the  21st  of  June,  1529,  that  Wolsey, 
and  his  fellow  cardinal,  Campeggio,  whom  the  Pope  had  appointed 
to  act  with  him,  in  the  matter  of  the  proposed  divorce  of  Henry 
and  Catherine,  held  their  court,  and  sat  in  judgment,  with  the  King 
on  their  right,  and  the  queen  accompanied  by  four  bishops  on  their 
left.  Henry,  when  his  name  was  called,  answered,  "  Here  !"  but 
the  queen,  when  hers  was  pronounced,  remained  silent.  The  cita- 
tion having  been  repeated,  Catherine  rose,  ran  to  her  husband,  and 
throwing  herself  at  his  feet,  appealed  to  him  in  language  that 
would  have  deterred  any  less  cruel  and  sensual  nature  from  the 
infamous  path  he  was  pursuing.  But  in  vain.  The  tyrant  was 
deaf  to  reason  and  insensible  to  shame.  At  last,  tormented  with 
their  questions,  in  a  passionate  out-burst  of  grief,  she  exclaimed, 

"  They  vex  me  past  my  patience !     Pray  you  pass  on  :  \To  her  attendants 
I  will  not  tarry  ;  no,  nor  ever  more 

Upon  this  business  my  appearance  make  / 

In  any  of  their  courts. " 

She  rose,  left  the  court,  and  never  entered  it  again.    She  died  at 


1 86  The  Priory  or  Monastery  of 

Kimbolton  in  1536,  broken-hearted,  but  refusing  to  the  last  to  re- 
nounce her  regal  rights  or  royal  title. 

In  this  same  church,  too,  singularly  enough,  where  Wolsey  had 
endeavoured  to  browbeat  one  Parliament,  the  sentence  of  pre- 
mtinire  was  passed  against  himself  by  another ;  and  he  who  had 
there  sat  in  judgment  on  Catherine,  and  who  had  acted  throughout 
as  an  instrument  in  Henry's  hands  to  doom  a  noble,  virtuous,  and 
innocent  lady  to  a  lingering  life  of  agony,  found  that  day's  pro- 
ceedings the  immediate  cause  of  his  own  downfall  and  death. 

At  the  dissolution  of  the  religious  houses,  Bishop  Fisher,  who 
held  it  in  commendam,  resigned  it  to  the  King.  The  revenues  were 
then  valued  at  the  very  moderate  sum  of  100/.  15^.  5^/.  The  prior's 
lodgings  and  the  great  hall  were  granted  to  Sir  Francis  Bryan  in 
1547  ;  but  these,  with  the  church,  and  all  the  old  buildings,  it  need 
scarcely  be  said,  have  long  since  been  swept  away. 

But  long  after  the  monks  had  been  scattered  and  the  buildings 
themselves  had  disappeared,  the  special  privileges  of  sanctuary 
which  they  had  for  centuries  enjoyed  continued  to  be  claimed  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  district  in  which  they  were  situated.  In  the 
course  of  time,  however,  these  privileges  developed  into  the  most 
monstrous  abuses,  and  at  last  became  so  intolerable  that  all  the 
legislative  and  executive  powers  of  the  state  were  put  in  force  to 
suppress  them.  Since  then,  historians,  novelists,  and  poets  have 
rendered  the  district  and  its  somewhat  singular  inhabitants  so 
famous,  that  some  little  account  of  them  cannot  fail  to  be  ac- 
ceptable. 

Between  Blackfriars  and  the  Temple  there  had  been  founded  in 
the  thirteenth  century  a  house  of  Cannelite  Friars,  distinguished 
by  their  white  hoods.  The  precincts  of  this  house,  and  of  that  of 
the  Blackfriars,  had,  says  Macaulay,  "  before  the  Reformation,  been 
a  sanctuary  for  criminals,  and  still  retained  the  privileges  of  pro- 
tecting debtors  from  arrest.  Insolvents  consequently  were  to  be 
found  in  every  dwelling  from  cellar  to  garret.  Of  these  a  large 
proportion  were  knaves  and  libertines,  and  were  followed  to  their 
asylum  by  women  more  abandoned  than  themselves.  The  civil 
power  was  unable  to  keep  order  in  a  district  swarming  with  such 
inhabitants ;  and  thus  Whitcfriars  became  the  favourite  resort  of 
all  who  wished  to  be  emancipated  from  the  restraint  of  the  law. 
Though  the  immunities  belonging  to  the  place  extended  only  to 
cases  of  debt,  cheats,  false  witnesses,  forgers,  and  highwaymen 
found  refuge  there.    For  amidst  a  rabble  so  desperate  no  peace 


the  Black  Friars.  187 

officer's  life  was  in  safety.  At  the  cry  of  '  Rescue  !'  bullies  with 
swords  and  cudgels,  and  termagant  hags  with  spits  and  broom- 
sticlcs,  poured  forth  by  hundreds  ;  and  the  intruder  was  fortunate 
if  he  escaped  back  into  Fleet-street,  hustled,  stripped,  and  pumped 
upon.  Even  the  warrant  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  England  could 
not  be  executed  without  the  help  of  a  company  of  musketeers  .  .  . 
.  .  The  Templars  on  one  side  of  Alsatia,  and  the  citizens  on 
the  other,  had  long  been  calling  on  the  Government  and  the  legis- 
lature to  put  down  so  monstrous  a  nuisance.  Yet  still,  bounded  on 
the  west  by  the  great  school  of  English  jurisprudence,  and  on  the  east 
by  the  great  mart  of  English  trade,  stood  this  labyrinth  of  squalid, 
tottering  houses,  close  packed  every  one,  from  cellar  to  cockloft, 
with  outcasts  whose  life  was  one  long  war  with  society.  The  most 
respectable  part  of  the  population  consisted  of  debtors  who  were 
in  fear  of  bailiffs.  The  rest  were  attorneys  struck  off  the  roll, 
witnesses  who  carried  straw  in  their  shoes  as  a  sign  to  inform  the 
public  where  a  false  oath  might  be  procured  for  half  a  crown, 
sharpers,  receivers  of  stolen  goods,  chppers  of  coin,  forgers  of 
bank-notes,  tawdry  women  blooming  with  paint  and  brandy,  who, 
in  their  anger,  made  free  use  of  their  nails  and  their  scissors,  yet 
whose  anger  was  less  to  be  dreaded  than  their  kindness.  With 
these  wretches  the  narrow  alleys  of  the  sanctuary  swarmed.  The 
rattling  of  dice,  the  call  for  more  punch  and  more  wine,  and  the  noise 
of  blasphemy  and  ribald  song  never  ceased  during  the  whole  night. 
The  benchers  of  the  Inner  Temple  could  bear  the  scandal  and 
the  annoyance  no  longer.  They  ordered  the  gate  leading  into  White- 
friars  to  be  bricked  up.  The  Alsatians  mustered  in  great  force, 
attacked  the  workmen,  killed  one  of  them,  pulled  down  the  wall, 
knocked  down  the  sheriff  who  came  to  keep  the  peace  and  carried 
off  his  gold  chain,  which  no  doubt  was  soon  in  the  melting  pot. 
The  tumult  was  not  suppressed  till  a  company  of  the  Foot  Guards 
arrived.  This  riot  excited  general  indignation.  The  City,  indig- 
nant at  the  outrage  done  to  the  sheriff,  cried  loudly  for  justice.  .  .  . 
At  length,  in  1697,  a  bill  for  abolishing  the  franchises  of  these 
places  passed  both  Houses  and  received  the  royal  assent.  The 
Alsatians  were  furious.  Anonymous  letters,  containing  menaces  of 
assassination,  were  received  by  members  of  Parliament  who  had 
made  themselves  conspicuous  by  the  zeal  with  which  they  had 
supported  the  bill ;  but  such  threats  only  strengthened  the  general 
conviction  that  it  was  high  time  to  destroy  these  nests  of  knaves 
and  ruffians.     A  fortnight's  grace  was  allowed ;  and  it  was  made 


1 88  The  Palace  of  Theobalds. 

known  that  when  that  time  had  expired,  the  vermin  who  had  been 
the  curse  of  London  would  be  unearthed  and  hunted  without 
mercy.  There  was  a  tumultuous  flight  to  Ireland,  to  France,  to  the 
colonies,  to  vaults  and  garrets  in  less  notorious  parts  of  the 
capital ;  and  when,  on  the  prescribed  day,  the  sheriffs'  officers 
ventured  to  cross  the  boundary,  they  found  those  streets,  where  a 
few  weeks  before  the  cry  of  '  A  writ !'  would  have  drawn  together 
a  thousand  raging  bullies  and  vixens,  as  quiet  as  the  cloister  of  a 
cathedral." 

Every  reader  of  the  Waverley  Novels  will  remember  Scott's 
graphic  account,  in  "  The  Fortunes  of  Nigel,"  of  the  old 
sanctuary,  with  the  reckless  habits  and  wretched  life  of  the  bullies 
and  bravoes  that  swarmed  and  swaggered  about  it  in  the  days  of 
James  I.  "  But  here  come  two  of  the  male  inhabitants,  smoking 
like  moving  volcanoes  !  Shaggy  uncombed  ruffians  they  were ; 
their  enormous  moustaches  were  turned  back  over  their  ears,  and 
mingled  with  the  wild  elf-locks  of  their  hair,  much  of  which  was 
seen  under  the  old  beavers  which  they  wore  aside  upon  their  heads, 
while  some  straggling  portion  escaped  through  the  rents  of  the 
hats  aforesaid.  Their  tarnished  plush  jerkins,  large  slops,  or 
trunk-breeches,  their  broad  greasy  shoulder-belts,  and  discoloured 
scarves,  and  above  all,  the  ostentatious  manner  in  which  the  one 
wore  a  broadsword,  and  the  other  an  extravagantly  long  rapier  and 
poniard,  marked  the  true  Alsatian  bully,  then,  and  for  a  hundred 
years  afterwards,  a  well-known  character."  Here  some  of  the  most 
stirring  scenes  and  one  of  the  most  tragic  incidents  in  the  novel 
take  place. 


The  Palace  of  Theobalds,  Cheshunt. 

"  The  house  itselfe  doth  showe  the  owner's  wit, 
And  may  for  bewtie,  state,  and  every  thing, 
Compared  be  with  most  within  the  land." — Old  Poet. 

This  sumptuous  Palace  rose  and  disappeared  within  a  protracted 
life-time — fourscore  years  and  ten.  It  was  built  by  a  favourite 
minister,  ostensibly  as  a  home  for  his  son,  though  its  splendour 
made  it  resemble  the  lure  of  a  courtier  ;  it  became  the  resort  of  a 
gay  queen,  and  the  abode  of  two  kings,  whence  it  fell  into  the  hands 
of  crafty  men,  who  levelled  its  magnificence,  and  scattered  its  trea- 
sures to  aid  them  in  carr)'ing  on  their  scheme  of  desolation,  and  to 
furnish  them  with  the  sinews  of  civil  war. 


TJu  Palace  of  Theobalds.  1 89 

Hence,  Theobalds  has  for  many  years  been  known  but  by  name ;  for, 
as  if  to  erase  its  existence,  representations  of  it  have  been  desiderata 
among  the  collectors  of  such  records.  When  Mr.  Lysons  wrote  his 
Ewvirons  of  London,  he  lamented  that  he  "  had  not  been  able  to  find 
any  print  or  painting  which  conveys  any  adequate  idea  of  this  palace." 
We  have  participated  in  his  regret,  seeing  that  Theobalds  was  a  fair 
specimen  of  a  style  of  architecture  again  become  popular ;  and  the 
gardens,  though  quaint  and  odd  in  their  way,  were  designed  by  one  of 
the  earliest  patrons  of  botany  in  this  country.  Besides,  the  mansion 
was  the  home  of  that  good  and  great  man,  Lord  Burghley,  who  here 
closed  his  brilliant  and  useful  career.  The  history  of  the  whole  place, 
too,  is  pointed  with  a  moral,  presenting  as  it  does  a  memorial  of  the 
instability  of  kingly  state,  and  the  vanity  of  human  grandeur. 

This  magnificent  Palace  stood  in  the  parish  of  Cheshunt  at  the  dis- 
tance of  twelve  miles  from  London,  and  a  little  to  the  north  of  the  road 
to  Ware.  The  origin  of  the  name  is  uncertain ;  but  it  is  probable 
that  Theobald  was  the  name  of  an  owner,  though  at  what  period  earlier 
than  the  reign  of  Henry  VL  does  not  appear. 

The  manor  probably  reverted  to  the  Crown  at  the  Suppression  of 
religious  foundations  ;  and,  after  passing  through  the  families  of  Bcdyl, 
Burbage,  and  Elliott,  on  June  10,  1563,  it  was  purchased  by  Sir 
William  Cecil,  afterwards  the  great  Lord  Burghley. 

The  original  manor  house  is  supposed  to  have  been  on  a  small 
moated  site,  which  is  to  be  traced  to  this  day.  In  1570,  Sir  William 
increased  the  estate  by  an  important  addition,  which  is  thus  mentioned 
in  his  Diary: — "May  15,  I  purchased  Cheshunt  Park  of  Mr.  Har- 
ryngton."  Cecil  now,  if  not  before,  must  have  been  proceeding  in 
earnest  with  his  new  mansion,  as  in  September  of  the  following  year. 
Queen  Elizabeth  honoured  it  with  a  visit ;  when  she  was  presented  with 
"  a  portrait  of  the  house." 

Lord  Burghley  was  not  the  least  sumptuous  in  architecture  among 
a  nobility  which  produced  many  magnificent  palaces.  The  author 
of  his  contemporary  biography  (printed  in  Peck's  Desiderata  Curiosa), 
says, "  He  buylt  three  houses  :  one  in  London,  for  necessity ;  another 
at  Burghley,  of  computency  for  the  mansion  of  his  Barony ;  and 
another  at  Waltham  [this  of  Theobalds,]  for  his  younger  Sonne; 
which,  at  the  first,  he  meant  but  for  a  little  pile,  as  I  have  hard  him  sale, 
but,  after  he  came  to  enterteyne  the  Queue  so  often  there,  he  was  in- 
forced  to  enlarge  it,  rather  for  the  Queue  and  her  greate  traine,  and  to  sett 
poore  on  worke,  than  for  pompe  or  ^lory  ;  for  he  ever  said  it  wold  be 
to  big  for  the  small  living  he  cold  leave  his  sonne.    The  other  two  arc 


190  The  Palace  of  Theobalds. 

but  convenient,  and  no  bigger  than  will  serve  for  a  nobleman ;  all  of 
them  perfected,  convenient,  and  to  better  purpose  for  habitation  than 
many  others  buylt  by  greate  noblemen  ;  being  all  bevvtiful,  uniform, 
necessary,  and  well  seated  ;  which  are  greate  arguments  of  his  wisdom 
and  judgment.  He  greatly  delighted  in  making  gardens,  fountains,  and 
walkes ;  which  at  Theobalds  were  perfected  most  costly,  bewtyfully, 
and  pleasantly  ;  where  one  might  walk  twoe  myle  in  the  walks  before 
he  came  to  their  ends." 

As  Lord  Burghley  had  built  this  mansion  expressly  for  his  younger 
son,  he  was  evidently  inclined,  some  years  before  his  death,  to  give  pos- 
session to  Sir  Robert  Cecil ;  but  some  opposition  was  made  to  this 
proposal  by  the  Queen,  as  appears  from  some  humorous  sallies  both  on 
the  part  of  her  Majesty  and  of  her '  Hermit,'  as  the  Secretary  was  pleased 
to  style  himself,  and  it  is  clear  that  the  longer  purse  of  the  Lord 
Treasurer  was  requisite  to  maintain  the  house  and  the  establishment 
which  had  both  been  increased  for  her  Majesty's  pleasure. 

Just  at  the  period  of  Lord  Bui-ghley's  death,  in  1598,  Theobalds 
was  visited  by  the  tourist  Hentzner,  who  thus  describes  it  in  his  journey, 
as  translated  by  Horace  Walpole  :— 

"Theobalds  belongs  to  Lord  Burghley,  the  Treasurer.  In  the 
Gallery  is  painted  the  genealogy  of  the  Kings  of  England.  From  this 
place  one  goes  into  the  garden,  encompassed  with  water,  large  enough 
for  one  to  have  the  pleasure  of  going  in  a  boat,  and  rowing  between 
the  shrubs.  Here  are  a  great  variety  of  trees  and  plants,  labyrinths  made 
with  a  great  deal  of  labour,  a.  jet  d'eau,  with  its  basin  of  white  marble, 
and  columns  and  pyramids  of  wood  and  other  materials  up  and  down 
the  garden.  After  seeing  these,  we  are  led  by  the  gardener  into  the 
summer-house  ;  in  the  lower  part  of  which,  built  semicircularly,  are  the 
twelve  Roman  Emperors  in  white  marble,  and  a  table  of  touchstone ; 
the  upper  part  of  it  is  set  round  with  cisterns  of  lead,  into  which  the 
water  is  conveyed  through  pipes,  so  that  fish  may  be  kept  in  them ; 
and,  in  summer  time,  they  are  very  convenient  for  bathing.  In  another 
room  foi  entertainment,  very  near  this,  and  joined  to  it  by  a  little 
bridge,  was  a  noble  table  of  red  marble.  We  were  not  admitted  to  see 
the  apartments  of  this  palace,  there  being  nobody  to  show  them,  as  the 
family  was  in  town  attending  the  funeral  of  their  lord."* 

On  the  decease  of  Lord  Burghley,  August  4,  1598,  his  son,  Sir 
Robert  Cecil,  became  the  possessor  of  Theobalds  and  the  neighbouring 
estates,  pursuant  to  indenture  dated  i6th  June,  29  Eliz.  (1577).! 

•  TraMlalion  of  Paul  Ileitlzner's  Journey.     Strawberry  Hill,  1758,  p.  54. 
t  Lord  Burghley '5  Will,  in  I'ccks  Dtudcrata,  p,  193. 


The  Palace  of  TJicobalds.  191 

The  Earl  of  Salisbury  (as  he  shortly  became  after  fhe  accession  of 
James  I.),  having  captivated  his  royal  master  with  the  charms  of  Theo- 
balds, particularly  in  two  sumptuous  entertainments  given  to  his 
majesty,  on  his  first  an'ival  in  England,  and  on  the  visit  of  his  brother- 
in-law  the  King  of  Denmark,  was  very  shortly  after  the  latter  festivity 
induced  to  exchange  it  for  the  palace  of  Hatfield  ;  where  (being  now 
himself  Lord  Treasurer,  and  thus  in  possession,  like  his  father,  of  the 
strings  of  the  royal  purse),  he  commenced  building  a  mansion  of  perhaps 
still  greater  magnificence ;  and  which  stood  unaltered,  except  by  a 
partial  fire,  to  our  own  days. 

The  Earl  of  Salisbury  gave  up  possession  on  the  22nd  of  May, 
1607,  with  a  poetical  entertainment  written  by  Ben  Jonson.  In  this, 
*'  the  Queen"  was  supposed  to  receive  the  Palace,  perhaps  with  the  view 
of  its  becoming  her  dowager-house  had  she  survived  King  James.  How- 
ever, Theobalds  became  his  principal  country  residence  throughout  the 
whole  of  his  reign,  and  it  was  here  that  he  breathed  his  last,  on  the 
27th  of  March,  1625.  Windsor  was  at  that  period  never  visited  except 
to  hold  the  feasts  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter  ;  Richmond,  which  had 
been  a  favourite  palace  of  Elizabeth,  was  given  up  to  the  Prince  of 
Wales ;  Hampton  Court  was  occasionally  resorted  to  ;  but  the  attrac- 
tions of  Waltham  Forest  gave  Theobalds  by  far  the  preference  in  the 
eyes  of  the  sylvan  monarch. 

After  taking  possession.  King  James  enlarged  the  park,  by  inclosing 
part  of  the  adjoining  chase,  and  surrounded  it  with  a  wall  of  brick 
measuring  ten -miles  in  circumference;  part  of  which,  on  the  north, 
containing  the  eighth  milestone,  remains  in  the  gardens  of  Albury 
House. 

King  Charles  I.  continued  to  reside  here;  and  there  is  an  interest- 
ing picture,  representing  an  interior  view  of  the  Gallery  in  perspective, 
into  which  the  King  and  Henrietta  Maria  are  entering  at  a  door, 
ushered  by  the  brother  Earls  of  Pembroke  and  Montgomery,  each 
with  his  wand  of  office,  the  former  as  Lord  Steward,  and  the  latter  as 
Lord  Chamberlain,  of  the  King's  household.  Waiting  in  the  gallery, 
stands  the  dwarf  Jeflfery  Hudson,  with  three  of  King  Charles's 
favourite  spaniels ;  and  a  parroquet  is  perched  on  a  balustrade.* 

When  the  sale  of  Crown  lands  was  in  agitation  in  1649,  it  was  at 


•  This  curious  picture  is  at  Hinton  St.  George,  the  seat  of  Earl  Poulett,  in 
Somersetshire.  Horace  Walpole  sujiposed  the  architecture  to  have  been 
painted  by  Steenwyck,  and  the  figures  copied  from  Vandyck  by  Polenburg  or 
Van  Bassen.  There  is  a  folio  engraving  by  S.  Sparrow,  jun.,  published  by 
Edward  Harding  in  1800,  and  a  small  copy  by  Aug.  Fox  in  Pickering's  editioB 
.if  Waltou  and  Cottons  Angler,  p,  ^. 


192  The  Palace  of  Theobalds. 

first  resolved  that  Theobalds  should  be  excepted,  but  it  was  afterwards 
determined  that  it  should  be  sold.  In  the  following  year,  the  sur- 
veyors reported  that  the  palace  was  an  excellent  building,  in  very  good 
repair,  by  no  means  fit  to  be  demolished,  and  that  it  was  worth  200/. 
per  annum,  exclusive  of  the  park ;  yet,  lest  the  Parliament  should 
think  proper  to  have  it  taken  down,  they  had  estimated  the  materials, 
and  found  them  to  be  worth  8275/.  ^  ^^'  The  calculations  of  the  sur- 
veyors vsrere  more  acceptable  than  their  advice ;  and  consequently,  the 
greater  part  of  the  Palace  was  taken  down  to  the  ground,  and  the 
money  arising  from  the  sale  of  the  materials  was  divided  among  the 
army. 

The  Survey  affords  a  circumstantial  description  of  the  several  por- 
tions and  apartments  of  the  Palace.  It  consisted  of  two  principal 
quadrangles,  besides  the  Dial-court,  the  Buttery-court,  and  the  Dove- 
house-court,  in  which  the  offices  were  situated.  The  Fountain-court, 
so  called  from  a  fountain  of  black  and  white  marble  in  the  centre,  was 
a  quadrangle  of  86  feet  square,  on  the  east  side  of  which  was  a  cloister, 
8  feet  wide,  with  seven  arches.  On  the  ground-floor  of  this  quad- 
rangle was  a  spacious  hall,  paved  with  Purbeck  marble ;  the  roof 
"  arched  over  the  top  with  carved  timbers  of  curious  workmanship,  and 
of  great  worth,  being  a  goodlie  ornament  to  the  same ;"  at  the  upper 
end  was  "  a  very  large  picture  of  the  bignesse  of  a  paire  of  stagges  horns 
scene  in  France." 

On  the  second  floor  was  the  Presence  Chamber,  with  cai-ved  wainscot 
of  oak,  richly  gilt,  the  ceiling  being  enriched  with  gilt  pendents ;  and 
coats  of  arms  were  set  in  the  large  windows.  These  windows  opened 
south  on  the  walk  in  the  Great  Garden,  leading  to  the  green  gates  into 
the  Park,  where  was  a  double  avenue  of  trees  a  mile  long.  On  the 
same  floor  were  also  the  Privy  Chamber,  the  Withdrawing  Chamber, 
the  King's  Bedchamber,  and  a  Gallery  123  feet  by  21,  wainscoted  with 
oak  ;  also  with  paintings  of  cities,  a  frettetl  ceiling,  with  pendents  and 
flowers,  richly  painted  and  gilt ;  also  large  stags'  heads :  the  win- 
dows of  tliis  Gallery  looking  north  into  the  Park,  and  so  to 
Cheshunt. 
I  On  an  upper  floor  were  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  lodgings,  my  Lord's 
Withdrawing  Chamber,  and  several  other  apartments.  Near  the 
Chamberlain's  lodgings  on  the  cast  was  a  leaded  walk,  62  feet  in  length 
and  1 1  in  breadth,  with  an  arch  of  freestone  over  it ;  "  which  said  arch 
and  walk,"  says  tiie  Sur\ey,  "  looking  eastward  into  the  middle  court, 
and  into  the  highway  Irading  from  London  to  Ware,  standcth  high, 
and  may  easily  be  discerned  by  passengers  and  travellers  to  their 


The  Palace  of  Theobalds.  193 

delight."  On  the  west  of  the  Lord  Chamberlain's  lodgings  was  another 
walk  of  the  same  dimensions,  looking  westward  into  the  Fountain- 
court.  At  each  corner  of  these  walks  stood  four  lofty  towers,  with 
lions  and  vanes ;  and  in  the  walk  over  the  hall,  in  the  midst  of  the 
four  corners,  was  a  lantern-tower,  with  pinnacles  at  each  corner,  wherein 
were  twelve  bells  and  a  clock  with  chimes. 

The  Park  contained  2508  acres,  valued,  together  with  six  lodges, 
one  of  which  was  in  the  occupation  of  Colonel  Cecil,  at  1545/.  15J.  4^. 
per  annum.  The  deer  were  valued  at  1000/.;  the  rabbits  at  15/.;  the 
timber  at  7259/.  13J.  2d. ;  exclusive  of  15,608  trees  marked  for  the  use 
of  the  Navy,  and  others  already  cut  down  for  that  purpose;  the 
materials  of  the  barns  and  walls  were  valued  at  1570/.  i6j.  3^/. 

The  gardens  were  large,  and  ornamented  with  labyrinths,  canals,  and 
fountains.  The  great  garden  contained  several  acres,  and  there  was, 
besides,  a  pheasant,  privy,  and  laundry  garden.  In  the  former  were  nine 
knots,  artificially  and  exquisitely  made,  one  of  them  in  imitation  of  the 
King's  arms. 

After  the  Restoration,  the  Manor  of  Theobalds  was  granted,  in 
13  Car.  II.,  to  George,  Duke  of  Albemarle;  and  it  subsequently 
descended  to  the  late  Oliver  Cromwell,  Esq.  The  park  and  ruins  re- 
mained in  the  Crown,  until  granted  in  i  and  2  William  and  Mary,  to 
William,  Duke  of  Portland,  to  whose  heirs  they  descended,  until 
Bold  in  1763  to  George  Prescott,  Esq.,  the  grandfather  of  Su-  George 
Beeston  Prescott,  of  Cheshunt  Park. 

The  last  stages  of  the  decay  of  Theobalds  were  recorded  by  Mr 
Gough,  first  in  his  Catalogue  of  British  Topography,  and  afterwards  in 
his  Additions  to  Camden's  Britannia.  The  room  said  to  have  been  that 
in  which  King  James  I.  died,  and  the  parlour  under  it,  with  a  cloister 
or  portico  having  the  Cecil  pedigree  painted  on  the  walls,  were  standing 
until  1765,  when  George  Prescott,  Esq.,  cleared  out  the  site  for  build- 
ing. "  It  is  now,"  adds  Mr.  Gough,  "  covered  with  gentlemen's  houses; 
and  the  only  remains  of  its  ancient  grandeur  are  a  walk  of  abeles, 
between  two  walls,  a  circular  summer-house,  and  the  traces  of  the  park 
wall,  nine  or  ten  miles  round,  built  by  James  I."  Mr.  Gough  pur- 
chased so  much  of  the  chimney-piece  of  the  parlour  as  had  survived 
the  demolition.  It  is  two-thirds  of  a  group  of  figures  in  alto  relievo, 
representing  in  the  centre  Minerva,  driving  away  Discord,  overthrow- 
ing Idolatry,  and  restoring  true  Religion.  The  architecture  is  orna- 
mented with  garbs  of  wheat-sheaves,  from  the  Cecil  crest.  It  is  carved 
in  clunch,  or  soft  stone,  probably  by  Florentine  artists.  Mr.  Gough 
placed  it  over  the  chimney-piece  of  his  library  at  Fortyhill,  EnfieW, 


194  Canons,  near  Edgivare. 

where  it  remained  until  the  year  1834,  when  it  was  presente<i 
by  his  representative,  John  Farran,  Esq.,  to  J.  B.  Nichols,  Esq., 
F.S.A.,  who  removed  it  to  his  house,  the  Chancellors,  Ham- 
mersmith. 

The  Stables  of  Theobalds  were  situated  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  road  leading  from  Waltham  Cross  to  Cheshunt :  and 
in  immediate  proximity  to  them  there  was  a  large  building  called 
the  Almshouse.  It  is  mentioned  in  the  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Salisbury, 
which  was  printed  on  his  death  in  161 2,  that  it  was  occupied  by 
"aged  and  overworn  Captaines,  gentlemen  by  birth  and  calling." 
This  building,  which  had  the  arms  of  Cecil  displayed  in  front,  and 
which  was  furnished  with  a  hall  and  chapel,  was  standing  till  about 
the  year  18 12. 


Canons,  near  Edgware,  and  "the  Great  Duke  of 

Chandos." 

The  following  interesting  account  of  the  celebrated  property  of 
Canons  Park,  and  its  noble  owner,  was  written  by  the  late  IVIr.  Till, 
the  well-known  Medallist,  who,  in  his  visit  to  the  locality,  took 
much  pains  to  insure  the  accuracy  of  his  narrative.  The  paper  was 
written  in  the  year  1840  : — 

"James,  the  ninth  Baron  of  Chandos,  was,  in  17 14,  created  Vis- 
count Wilton  and  Earl  of  Caernarvon;  in  April,  1719,  Marquis 
of  Caernarvon  and  Duke  of  Chandos  :  he  died  in  1744,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  second  son,  Henry  (the  eldest  having  died  be- 
fore him).  The  first  nobleman,  styled,  in  his  time,  *  the  Great 
Duke,'  was  celebrated  for  the  regal  style  of  splendour  and  magni- 
ficence in  whicli  he  lived ;  and  for  being  the  object  of  the  un- 
grateful and  cutting  sarcasms  which  Pope  thought  fit  to  publish  in 
his  Moral  Essays. 

*"The  Great  Duke'  erected,  in  the  domains  of  Canons  Park, 
near  Edgware,  a  superb  palace,  and  with  it  connected  every 
attribute  that  could  charm  the  senses  or  afford  gratification 
to  his  numerous  visitors :  he  tl-.erc  assembled  vc\,z\\  of  every 
country  as  well  as  his  own,  who  were  celebrated  for  literary 
attainments,  amongst  whom  was  Pope,  who  had  rcjK'atcdly  par- 
taken of  tho  Duke's  splendid  hospitality,  and  who,  in  return,  satj- 


Canons,  near  Edgrvare,  i95 

rizcd  his  host  and  friend.  The  poet,  however,  lived  to  repent  his 
ingratitude,  for  he  openly  denied  the  identity  of  the  person  intended ; 
but  it  was  too  palpable:  his  contemporaries  blamed,  and  posterity 
condemns  alike,  his  satire  and  his  subterfuge.  The  site  of  the  ground, 
to  this  day,  bears  out  the  accuracy  of  his  offensive  description. 

"  The  palatial  home  built  by  '  the  Great  Duke,'  with  the  improve- 
ments in  the  park,  is  stated  to  have  cost  from  200,000/.  to  300,000/. 
The  mansion  was  in  the  form  of  a  square,  and  of  stone ;  the  four  side* 
being  very  similar,  surmounted  with  statues  of  heathen  deities,  aa 
Jupiter,  Apollo,  &c. ;  and  at  their  sides  were  vases  in  imitation  of  the 
antique:  each  front  had  two  rows  of  eleven  windows,  over  each  of 
which  was  a  sculptured  head,  and  above  these  were  eleven  smaller 
windows,  each  with  a  sculptured  ornament.  In  the  centre  of  the 
principal  front  were  six  fluted  marble  columns,  with  an  ascent  of  steps. 
The  cornice  of  this  front  was  highly  decorated  with  trophies,  musical 
instruments,  groups  of  fruit,  the  ducal  coat-of-arms  and  coronet,  with 
the  initials  of  his  Grace,  &c.  The  walls  at  the  base  were  twelve  feet 
thick ;  above,  nine  feet. 

"The  house  was  built  in  the  year  1712,  when  three  of  the  most 
celebrated  architects  of  the  day  were  employed  in  the  design — viz., 
Gibbs,  James,  and  Sheppard.  It  was  erected  at  the  end  of  a  long  and 
spacious  avenue  of  trees,  and  being  placed  diagonally  it  gave,  at  a  dis- 
tance, a  front  and  appearance  of  prodigious  extent.  The  hall  was 
richly  decorated  with  marble  statues,  busts,  &c. ;  the  ceiiing  of  the 
staircase  was  painted  by  Sir  James  Thornhill ;  the  grand  apartments 
were  finely  adorned  with  sculpture,  paintings,  &c. ;  the  staircase  was 
of  marble,  each  step  being  one  entire  block,  exceeding  twenty-two  feet 
in  length  ;  the  locks  and  hinges  of  the  doors  were  said  to  be  of  solid 
silver,  if  not  of '  gold,'  as  some  writers  have  affirmed.  The  demesne  at 
this  time  contained  400  acres. 

*'  The  Duke  had  accumulated  vast  wealth  as  paymaster  of  the  army, 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  His  fortune,  however,  suffered  three 
successive  shocks  by  his  concerns  in  the  African  Company,  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  the  South  Sea  speculations,  in  1718,  1719,  and  1720; 
notwithstanding  which  he  continued  to  reside  at  Canons,  though  with 
diminished  splendour,  until  his  death  in  1744.  As  no  purchaser  of  the 
entire  property  could  then  be  found,  in  1747  the  mansion  was  taken 
down,  and  the  materials  produced,  when  disposed  of  in  separate  lots, 
the  sum  of  11,000/.  Among  the  most  costly  items  were,  an  eques- 
trian statue  of  George  I.,  which  was  placed  in  Leicester- square ;  a 
superb  marble  staircase,  now  in  Chesterfield  House,  May  Fair ;  and 


19^  Canons,  near  Edgware, 

the  fine  marble  columns  of  the  front,  which  were  employed  in  building 
Wanstead  House,  which  mansion  was  taken  down  in  1822.  The  site 
of  Canons  House,  with  part  of  the  materials,  were  purchased  by  Mr. 
Hallett,  a  cabinet-maker,  who  erected  the  present  elegant  little  villa  ; 
which,  in  1786,  came  by  purchase  into  the  possession  of  Colonel 
O'Kelly,  the  owner  of  the  celebrated  horse  Eclipse.  The  Colonel  died, 
and  was  interred  at  Whitchurch,  in  1788  ;  and  his  favourite  steed  was 
buried  in  the  paddock  fronting  the  house. 

"Pope  was  not  only  ungrateful,  but  unjust  in  his  satire,  when  speak- 
ing of  a  fine  ornamental  piece  of  water,  and  of  the  lawn  ;  the  former 
he  assimilates  to  an  ocean,  the  latter  to  a  down:  with  more  justice, 
however,  he  condemns  the  then  prevailing  formal  fashion  of 

'Trees  cut  to  statues — statues  thick  as  trees." 

Although  Dr.  Blackwell,  author  of  a  Treatise  on  Agriculture,  was  em- 
ployed in  laying  out  the  pleasure-grounds ;  still,  a  formality,  doubtless, 
was  substituted  for  simple  nature,  and  was  much  to  be  censured.  In 
his  allusion  to  the  musical  service  performed  at  Whitchurch,  Pope 
says: 

'  Light  quirks  of  music,  broken  and  uneven, 
Make  the  soul  dance  upon  a  jig  to  heaven.' 

These  light  quirks  of  music  were  not  only  composed,  but  performed,  by 
the  immortal  Handel,  who  was  here  employed  as  '  maestro  di  cappella ' 
to  his  Grace ;  and,  as  the  author  of  the  Re>7iimscences  of  Handel* 
states,  the  cathedral  service  was  performed  by  a  choir  of  voices, 
accompanied  by  instruments,  superior  at  that  time  in  number  and  ex- 
cellence to  those  of  any  sovereign  prince  in  Europe.  Here  that  celebrated 
composer  produced  his  Chandos  Anthems ;  and  the  chief  part  of  his 
hautboy  concertos,  sonatas,  lessons,  and  organ  fugues. 

"On  the  organ,  at  Whitchurch,  a  plate  t  states  that  '  Handel  was 
organist  at  this  church,  from  the  year  1718  to  1721,  and  composed  his 
Oratorio  of  Esther  on  tiiis  organ.' 

"  On  entering  Canons  Park,  the  visitor  must  be  struck  with  the 
fulfilment  of  Pope's  prophetic  lines : 

'  Another  age  sliall  sec  the  golden  ear 
Imbrown  the  slope, — and  nod  on  the  parterre.' 

"This  is,  indeed,  figuratively  the  case;  for  the  enclosure,  which  was 
once  so  beautiful  and  boasted  of  every  plant  that  the  most  distant  clime 

•  Richard  Clarke,  Esq.,  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  Her  Majesty's  choir. 
♦  The  plate  was  fixed  by  Julius  Plumcr,  son  of  Sir  Thomas  and  Lady 
Plumer. 


Cations,  near  Edgivare.  197 

could  produce,  assisted  by  the  highest  art  of  the  day,  ts  now  little 
better  thati  a  common  field,  though  stocked  with  noble  timber.  It  it 
partly  let  to  the  farmer  and  grazier. 

"  One  spot,  one  little  spot,  however,  remains  entire  to  convey  to 
posterity  an  idea  of  the  princely  grandeur  of  'the  Great  Duke  of 
Chandos.*  A  beautiful  little  church,  rendered  more  interesting  by  the 
absence  of  tliat  high  cultivation  with  which  it  was  formerly  sur- 
roundsd,  attests  the  taste  and  liberality  of  this  munificent  nobleman. 

"  Whitchurch,  formerly  called  Stanmore  Parva  or  the  less,  from  the 
neighbouring  parish  of  Stanmore  Magna,  formerly  having  contained 
more  inhabitants,  though  one  hundred  acres  less  of  land,  than  at  pre- 
sent. The  church  is  a  plain  brick  edifice,  rebuilt  in  1 7 15,  by  the  Duke 
of  Chandos  ;  e>:cept  the  tower,  which  is  part  of  the  original  structure, 
and  was  dedicated  to  St.  Lawrence.  It  is  situated  within  half  a  mile 
of  the  mansion  of  Canons,  and  contiguous  to  the  village  of  Edgware.* 
The  exterior  is  singularly  unattractive;  but  on  entering  it  you  are 
struck  with  the  beauty  and  splendour  of  the  little  edifice ;  its  walls  and 
ceiling  are  decorated  with  paintings  by  Laguerre,  the  subjects  being 
taken  from  the  miracles  performed  by  our  Saviour ;  as  well  as  the 
figures  of  St.  Matthew,  Mark,  and  other  of  the  Evangelists,  and  of 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  which  are  on  each  side  of  the  chapel.  In 
the  seat  used  by  Lady  Plumer,  is  a  splendid  painting  ot  the 
Transfiguration,  in  which  the  portrait  of  the  Redeemer  is  pre-eminently 
beautiful.  In  a  recess,  supported  by  columns  elaborately  carved  by 
Gibbons,  is  the  organ,  rendered  sacred  by  its  association  with  Handel, 
for  whose  choir  beneath  was  erected  a  large  orchestra,  which  still  re- 
mains, and  is  used  as  a  pew  for  a  neighbouring  school.  On  each  side 
of  the  altar  are  paintings  by  Belluchi,  on  canvas,  of  Moses  receiving 
the  Tablets  of  the  Commandments;  of  the  NatiWty,  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  and  the  Crucifixion ;  all  which  are  finely  executed.  The 
cnurch  consists  of  a  chancel  and  nave,  to  which  you  ascend  by  a  step. 
In  the  nave  are  the  tombs  of  M.  Mosely,  Esq.,  Lady  Frankland,  and 
others.  Opposite  the  organ,  on  the  west  side,  is  a  superb  pew,  formerly 
appropriated  to  the  Duke  and  his  family;  and  on  each  side  there  is 
one  for  his  domestics.  Adjoining  the  body  of  the  church,  on  the  north 
side,  is  what  is  termed  the  Monument-room,  paved  with  black  and 
white  marble,  in  which  are  monuments  of  the  family  of  the  Brydges, 
Dukes  of  Chandos;  one  of  which,  in  white  marble,  represents  'the 


•  This  church,  at  that  period  styled  the  Duke  of  Chandos's,  was  opened 
for  service,  the  first  time,  on  Monday,  29th  of  August,  17  j6. 


19^  Canons,  near  Edgware, 

Great  Duke,'  in  the  costume  of  a  Roman,  with  long,  flowing  hair. 
Beside  him  are  his  two  wives,  Mary  and  Cassandra,  in  a  kneeling  pos- 
ture ;  these  figures,  at  first  sight,  appear  mythological ;  but  as  an  inscrip- 
tion beneath  records  their  names,  it  is  but  fair  to  appropriate  them  to 
these  ladies :  some  iconoclast  has  mutilated  the  fingers  of  the  statues.  A 
florid  inscription  enumerates  the  virtues  of  his  Grace,  who,  it  appears 
from  its  tenor,  forbad  the  act  thus  consummated  —  that  of  praise. 
Beneath  these  figures  is  a  tomb,  in  which  are  the  remains  of  Duke 
Henry,  and  James,  the  last  Duke,  and  their  Duchesses,*Anne  excepted, 
the  consort  of  the  former,  who  lies  in  the  vault  beneath.  On  the  same 
side  of  the  apartment  is  the  monument  of  a  daughter  of  Lord  Bruce, 
and  consort  of  Henry,  Marquis  and  afterwards  Duke  of  Chandos,  and 
others:  one  especially  deserves  attention  from  the  heart-rending  cir- 
cumstance which  dictated  its  erection  :  it  is  to  the  memory  of  a  child 
of  the  house  of  Chandos ;  who,  the  clerk  states,  died  as  it  was  about 
to  be  christened,  and  in  the  arms  of  its  nurse;  King  George  HI.  and 
Queen  Charlotte  being  sponsors.  Still,  the  ceremony  was  performed, 
and  the  body,  enclosed  in  a  silver  coffin,  reposes  within  the  sarcophagus 
here  erected.  The  domestics  of  the  family  stated  the  infant's  death  to 
have  been  caused  by  the  weight  of  gold  and  gems  pressing  on  its  breast 
at  the  time  of  baptism.  It  is  said  that  the  Duke,  its  father,  never  i-e- 
covered  the  blow,  and  that  the  Duchess  retired  into  seclusion.  There 
is  no  inscription  to  this  child's  memory,  nor  is  any  record  ot  its  birth  to 
be  found  in  the  English  peerage. 

"  From  the  Monument-room  you  are  led,  by  a  flight  of  steps,  to  the 
ante-chamber,  in  which  are  monuments  to  the  memory  of  the  Marquia 
of  Caernarvon,  1727;  also  of  Frances,  and  the  Rev.  Henry  Brydges. 
Here  you  observe  the  escutcheon  of  Chandos,  with  the  coronet,  and 
tattered  banner  of  this  all  but  regal  nobleman,  '  the  Great  Duke,'  fall- 
ing piecemeal  to  the  earth,  without  a  friendly  hand  to  arrest  its  rapid 
decay.  A  few  years  hence  and  its  office  will  be  accomplished,  and  not 
a  vestige  of  it  will  remain. 

"  On  descending,  you  are  shown  the  vault  of  the  Brydges  ;  wherein 
are  heaped  tlie  rcmiins  of  this  once  powerful  and  illustrious  family. 
Here,  likewise,  the  descendants  of  the  i'lantagenets  and  Tudors  lie  in 
melancholy  confusion.     Much  faith  canutft,  however,  be  placed  on  the 

•  A  curious  anecdote  is  extant  of  James,  Duke  of  Chandos,  having  purchased 
his  lost  wife  of  licr  husband,  an  ostler  :U  an  inn.  However  incredible  this  story 
may  appear,  the  fact  is  indubitable;  the  clever  niithor  of  \.\v.\  Reminiscences  cf 
Handtl  (\n  his  account  of  the  '  Hartnonioiis  lllacksniith,' over  whose  remains 
he,  in  conjunction  with  another  K''i"l''"iii".  has  erected  a  memento  in  VVhjt- 
cburch  churdi>iud),  gives  part  of  the  particulars,  fiuni  an  authentic  source. 


Canons,  near  Edgivare.  1 99 

appropriation  of  the  names  on  the  coffins ;  as  a  miscreant  broke  into 
this  vault  some  time  since,  and  wrenched  the  plates  fi-om  off"  them, 
presuming  they  were  silver ;  but  on  finding  himself  mistaken,  manv 
were  left  behind  and  replaced.  In  connexion  with  this  sacrilege  a 
story  is  told  which  partakes  of  the  marvellous  and  tragic,  but  which,  as 
it  came  from  a  '  high  authority '  still  in  the  parish,  may  be  here  re- 
lated. A  person  was  set  to  watch,  after  this  robbery,  in  the  expecta- 
tion that  the  thieves  would  return  on  the  following  evening:  by  some 
accident  a  sow,  in  her  midnight  perambulations,  strayed  into  the  church, 
the  door  of  which  had  been  left  open,  and  making  her  road  up  the  steps 
leading  to  the  Monument-room,  mistook  her  way  and  fell  headlong  to 
the  bottom.  The  foil  caused  her  death  almost  immediately,  but  not 
before  the  young  man  who  was  there  placed,  but  who  had  fallen  asleep, 
was  awakened  by  the  noise  and  caught  a  glimpse  of  her.  That  glimpse 
was,  however,  enough  :  to  his  eyes  she  appeared  of  monstrous  dimen- 
sions ;  and  the  place  a. id  circumstances  together  conspired  so  to  shock 
his  mind,  that  the  sight  of  the  dead  sow  did  not  satisfy  hnn,  and  the 
poor  fellow  took  to  his  bed,  and  died  in  three  days ! 

'•  Some  of  the  coffins  are  very  fresh,  and  from  the  purity  of  the 
country  air  admitted  into  the  tomb,  the  materials  of  which  it  is  com- 
posed are  nearly  as  fresh  as  when  fii-st  erected. 

" '  The  Great  Duke  of  Ghandos '  appears  to  have  been  peculiarly 
unfortunate  in  his  offspring,  as  from  the  parish  register  we  find,  in 
six  years  he  lost  five  children,  four  sons  and  a  daughter,  whose  coffins 
are  here  seen  ;  as  are  also  those  of  the  Duchess  Anne,  who  died  in 
1759,  before  noticed,  and  the  Marchioness  of  Caernarvon,  with  many  of 
the  younger  branches  of  the  family,  as  well  as  collateral  relatives  of  the 
first  Duke.  In  this  vault,  likewise,  is  seen  a  coffin  of  colossal  dimen- 
sions, being  four  feet  eight  inches  across,  containing  the  body  of  a 
mother  and  daughter  of  the  name  of  Inwood. 

"  Many  of  the  family  of  the  Lakes,  who  possessed  the  mansion  from 
1604  until  the  marriage  of  Mary,  daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  Thomas 
Lake,  with  James  the  first  Duke,  lie  interred  in  this  church.  A  capa- 
cious parish  vault  likewise  contains  a  great  number  of  gentry,  formerly 
residents  of  the  adjoining  village.  The  late  proprietor  of  Canons,  Mr. 
Hallett,  with  his  family,  lie  under  the  orchestra. 

"To  this  church  it  was  the  custom  of  'the  Grand  Duke,'  to  repair 
attended,  if  not  by  a  superb,  at  least  an  interesting  retinue :  eight  old 
sergeants  of  the  army,  who  had  fought  in  the  battles  of  their  country, 
were  selected  and  dressed  in  the  Chandos  livery;  these  formed  his 
escort  on  the  Sunday,  and  at  night  were  guardians  of  his  property,  eacb 


20O  Canons,  near  Edgware. 

of  them  having  appropriated  to  his  use  a  neat  and  comfortable  resi- 
dence,  which  was  erected  at  the  termination  of  the  principal  avenue  of 
trees. 

"  This  ostentation  may,  perhaps,  be  spared  censure  when  it  is  consi- 
dered that  it  gave  employment  to  the  aged,  and  an  extension  of  those 
comforts  they  would  otherwise  have  in  vain  sought  for.  Pope  himself, 
in  his  satire,  confessed  that  from  this  harmless  vanity  were  derived 
health  and  blessings  to  the  poor,  and  food  for  the  hungry. 

"In  the  present  mansion,  which  is  built  nearly  on  the  site  of  the 
farmer  one,  is  a  beautiful  chimney-piece  originally  in  the  Duke's  palace : 
it  IS  most  exquisitely  sculptured  in  white  marble,  and  is,  I  believe,  the 
only  part  which  can  be  recognised  as  belonging  to  that  once  princely 
edifice.  In  the  park  are  two  sphinxes,  evidently  from  the  old  palace ; 
they  are  stationed  on  what  is  termed  the  boat-house. 

"  On  September  25,  1 790,  a  grand  miscellaneous  concert  of  sacred 
music  was  performed  at  Whitchurch  :  the  pieces  were  selections  from 
the  compositions  of  Handel ;  and  the  profits  were  appropriated  to  the 
benefit  of  the  Sunday-schools  in  the  neighbourhood. 

"  Reverting  once  more  to  the  family  of  the  Brydges,  genealogists 
inform  us  that  they  are  descended  from  the  Montgomeries,  Earls  of 
Arundel,  and  lords  of  the  castle  of  Brugge,  in  Shropshire,  from  whence 
their  name;  and  from  Sir  Simon  de  Brugge,  who  lived  in  the  reigns  of 
Henry  III.  and  Edward  I.;  as  well  as  from  Robert  de  Chandos,  a 
powerful  warrior,  who  came  over  with  the  Conqueror.  James,  the 
last  Duke  of  Chandos,  until  the  restoration  of  the  title  in  the  person  of 
the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  died  in  1789,  without  male  issue,  leaving  an 
only  daughter  and  heiress,  the  Lady  Anna  Eliza  Brydges,  who  man-ied 
B^rl  Temple  ;  he  was  in  1822  created  Duke  of  Buckingham  and  Chan- 
dos, since  dead  ;  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Richard  Plantagenet, 
Marquis  of  Chandos,  subsequently  Duke  of  Buckingham  and  Chandos. 

"  The  illustrious  house  of  Chandos  derives  its  descent  from  the  royal 
houses  of  Plantagenet  and  Tudor;  and  the  above  Duke  from  that  of 
Bruce,  in  Scotland;  his  maternal  ancestress  being  the  Lady  Mary 
Tudor,  the  favourite  sister  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  the  youthful  widow  of 
Louis  XII.  of  France,  afterwards  married  to  Charles  Brandon,  Duke 
of  Suflbik,  whose  daughter,  the  Lady  Eleanor,  married  with  the  Clifford 
family ;  from  whom,  and  from  the  royal  house  of  Scotland,  before- 
named,  the  late  Duchess  sprang. 

"Whitchurch,  although  only  eight  miles  from  the  metropolis,  ap- 
pears almost  unknown  to  Londoners ;  but  it  will  be  found  well  worth 
their  attcntioiu" 


SOI 


Stones  of  the  Star  Chamber. 

Every  person  at  all  acquainted  with  the  localities  of  the  late  Houses 
of  Parliament  must  recollect  in  New  Palace- yard  the  last  line  of  build- 
ings on  the  riverside,  which,  to  those  who  were  familiar  with  the  historical 
associations  of  the  spot,  told  afflicting  tales  of  other  times.  Indeed, 
it  was  scarcely  possible  for  any  one  to  pass  this  dilapidated  pile  with.iut 
some  inquiry  as  to  its  appropriation — its  history,  and  its  aspect  of 
neglect  and  decay. 

These  buildings  stood  on  the  eastern  side  of  New  Palace- 
yard,  near  the  bank  of  the  Thames:  adjoining  them,  northward, 
was  an  arched  gateway,  apparently  of  Henry  the  Third's  time, 
which  communicated  with  a  boarded  passage  and  stairs  leading 
to  the  water.  At  different  times,  since  1807,  the  whole  of  this  range 
of  building  was  pulled  down ;  the  last  remaining  part,  included 
the  offices  where  the  trials  of  the  Pyx  took  place,  and  the  printing  of 
Exchequer  bills  was  carried  on.  There  was  also  an  apartment  in  the 
same  edifice,  in  which  that  despotic  tribunal,  the  Star  Chamber, 
held  its  sittings  during  the  most  obnoxious  period  of  its  career — namely, 
from  the  end  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  until  the  final  abolition  of  the 
Court  by  Parliament,  in  1641.  This,  however,  could  not  have  been 
the  "  Chambre  des  Estoilles"  or  "  Camera  Stellata,"  in  which  the  Court 
originally  sat ;  for,  the  building  itself  was  evidently  of  the  Elizabethan 
age,  and  the  date  1602,  with  the  initials  E.  R.  separated  by  an  open 
rose  on  a  star,  was  carved  over  one  of  the  doorways.  But  it  may  be 
inferred  from  various  records,  that  the  original  Stai"  Chamber  occupied 
the  same  site,  or  nearly  so,  as  the  late  buildings. 

Having  thus  premised  a  general  outline  of  the  buildings,  we  propose 
glancing  at  the  origin  of  the  infamous  Court  which  was  held  in  one  of 
the  principal  apartments ;  an  inquiry  which  bespeaks  the  attention  of 
the  reader  from  the  prominent  mention  of  the  Star  Chamber  in  the 
history  of  our  country.  In  this  task,  advantage  has  been  taken  of  two 
letters  from  John  Bruce,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  to  Thomas  Amyot,  Esq., 
F.S.A.,  and  Treasurer  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  ;  both  which  are 
printed  in  the  Archaologia,  vol.  xxv.  pt.  2,  1834,  pp.  342,  393. 

It  seems  agreed  that  all  superior  courts  of  justice  originated  in  the 
ancient  Royal  Court  held  in  the  King's  Palace,  before  the  King  him- 
self, and  the  members  of  his  "  Consilium  ordinarium,"  commonly  called 
"  the  Council."  The  Courts  of  King's  Bench,  Common  Pleas,  and 
Exchequer,  arose  from  time  to  time  out  of  the  King's  Court,  and 


202  Stories  of  the  Star  Chamber. 

assumed  independent  jurisdiction  overparticular  descriptions  of  causes. 
Hence  a  considerable  portion  of  the  business  of  the  King's  Court  was 
diverted  into  other  channels;  but  the  court  itself  subsisted,  and  exer- 
cised a  judicial  discretion,  which  it  is  difficult  to  define. 

In  the  exercise  of  their  judicial  authority,  the  Council  held  their 
sittings  in  a  chamber  of  the  Palace  at  Westminster,  known  as  "  the 
Council  Chamber  near  the  Exchequer,"  and  the  "  Chambre  des 
Estoyers,"  or  "  Estoilles,"  near  the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer.  This 
chamber  is  said  to  have  been  situated  in  tlie  outermost  quadrangle  of 
the  Palace,  next  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  was  consequently  easily 
accessible  to  the  suitors.  The  occupation  of  the  "  Chambre  des 
Estoilles,"  or  Star  Chamber,  by  the  Council,  can  be  traced  to  the  reign 
of  Edward  III.;  but  no  specific  mention  of  the  Star  Chamber,  as  a 
Court  of  Justice,  can  be  found,  Mr.  Bruce  believes,  earlier  than  the 
reign  of  Henry  VII.,  about  which  time  the  old  titles  of  "the  Lords 
sitting  in  the  Star  Chamber,"  and  "the  Council  in  the  Star  Chamber," 
seem  to  have  merged  in  this  one  distinguishing  appellation.* 

The  origin  of  the  name  "  Star  Chamber,"  has  been  a  subject  of  dis- 
pute which  has  given  occasion  to  several  ingenious  guesses.  The  most 
satisfactory  explanation  appears  to  be  that  supported  by  Mr.  Caley,  in 
the  eighth  volume  of  the  Arcbaologia,  p.  404  ;  that  the  ceiling  of  the 
chamber  was  anciently  ornamented  with  gilded  stars. 

The  course  of  the  proceedings  before  the  Council  was  twofold ;  one, 
ore  tenus,  or  by  mouth  ;  the  other  by  bill  and  answer.  The  proceeding 
ore  tenus  was  that  which  was  usually  adopted  in  political  cases,  and 
consequently,  was  the  most  abused.  It  originated  either  in"soden 
reporte,"  which  Mr.  Bruce  thinks  means  private,  and  probably  secret 
information  given  to  the  Council.  The  person  accused,  or  suspected, 
was  immediately  apprehended  and  privately  examined.  If  he  confessed 
any  offence,  or,  if  the  cunning  of  his  examiners  drew  Irom  him,  or  his 
own  simplicity  let  fall,  any  expressions  which  suited  tlieir  purpose,  he 
was  at  once  brought  to  the  bar,  his  confession  or  examination  was  read, 
he  was  convicted  ex  ore  suo  (out  of  his  own  mouth),  and  judgment  was 
immediately  pronouced  against  him.  Imagination  can  scarcely  con- 
ceive a  more  terrible  judicature.  Draggetl  from  home  in  the  custody 
of  a  pursuivant,  ignorant  of  the  charge  or  suspicion  entertained  against 


•  The  Judges  before  and  subsequent  to  this  nlteration  were  the  same — viz., 
the  members  of  the  King's  onlinary  council,  — "  tiie  Ldrds  of  tlu;  Council,"  as 
they  are  still  tcnncd  in  the  Litany  of  the  Church  service,  although  many  of 
them  have  generally  been  under  the  degree  of  u  I3aron. 


Stories  of  the  Star  Chamber.  203 

him,  without  friend  or  counsellor,  the  foredoomed  victim  was  subjected 
to  a  searching  examination  before  the  members  of  a  tribunal  which  was 
bound  by  no  law,  and  which  itself  created  and  defined  the  offences  it 
punished.  His  judges  were,  in  point  of  fact,  his  prosecutors,  and  every 
mixture  of  these  two  characters  is  inconsistent  with  impartial  justice. 

Besides  the  mode  of  proceeding  ore  teims,  the  Council  might  be  ap- 
plied to  in  another  manner,  in  all  cases  of  libel,  conspiracy,  and  matters 
arising  out  of  force  or  fraud.  Crimes  of  the  greatest  magnitude,  even 
treason  and  murder,  were  treated  of  in  this  Court,  but  solely  punished 
as  trespasses,  the  Council  not  having  dared  to  usurp  the  power  of  in- 
flicting death.  Causes  of  a  capital  nature  could  originate  only  in  the 
King,  who  by  prosecuting  in  this  Court  for  any  treasonable  or  felonious 
offence,  showed  his  desire  to  remit  the  sentence  against  the  life  which 
would  have  been  awarded  in  the  Courts  of  Law.  In  these  cases,  a 
Bill  of  Complaint  was  filed  with  the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  who  then 
granted  a  warrant,  and  subpoenas  were  issued  to  the  defendant.  Strictly, 
no  subpoena  could  be  issued  until  a  bill  was  filed ;  but  it  seems  that 
this  practice  was  at  one  time  relaxed  ;  and  the  consequence  was,  that 
in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  "  many  solicitors  who  lived  in  Wales, 
Cornwall,  or  the  furthest  parts  of  the  North,  did  make  a  trade  to  sue 
forth  a  multitude  of  subpoenas  to  vex  their  neighbours ;  who  rather 
than  they  would  travel  to  London,  would  give  them  any  composition, 
although  there  were  no  colour  of  complaint  against  them." 

The  process  of  the  Star  Chamber  might  anciently  be  served  in  any 
place.  In  Catholic  times,  the  market,  or  the  church,  seems  to  have 
been  the  usual  place  for  service.  We  find  a  corroboration  of  this 
practice  in  the  mention  of  a  case  which  occurred  in  the  second  year  of 
Henry  VIII.,  in  which  one  Cheesman  was  committed  to  prison  for 
contempt  of  Court,  in  drawing  his  sword  upon  a  messenger  who 
served  process  upon  him  in  the  church  of  Esterford,  in  Essex.  The 
practice  of  wearing  swords  during  divine  service  is  ancient ;  and,  in 
Poland,  so  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,  it  was  the 
custom  for  gentlemen  to  draw  their  swords  at  church,  during  the  re- 
petition of  the  Creed,  by  way  of  testifying  their  zeal  for  the  faith.* 

In  the  time  of  Henry  VII.,  the  person  summoned  appeared  per- 
sonally before  the  Chancellor,  or  President,  of  the  Council.  In  the 
reign  of  James  I.,  the  defendant  appeared  before  the  Clerk  of  the 
Council,  who  took  from  him  a  bond  not  to  depart  without  licence  of 


•  Howel's  Letters,  p.  268,  ed.  1737. 


204  Stories  of  the  Starchamber. 

the  Court ;  by  which  bond  he  was  anciently  conditioned  to  appeat 
from  day  to  day,  or  confess  the  offence.  In  the  time  of  Edward  III., 
we  find  a  petitioner  summoned  to  appear  on  a  certain  day,  when  his 
opponent  not  being  present,  he  was  ordered  to  follow  the  Court  from 
day  to  day  until  the  complainant  should  appear,  and  thus  he  was  keptj 
"as  in  a  prison,"  upwards  of  a  year.  If  the  defendant  refused  to 
answer  upon  oath,  the  plaintiff's  bill,  he  was  imprisoned  for  a  certain 
time ;  when,  if  he  still  refused,  cither  the  bill  was  taken  as  his  con- 
fession, or  he  was  retained  in  custody  and  kept  upon  bread  and  water 
until  he  answered.  When  he  had  put  in  his  answer,  the  plaintiff 
examined  him  upon  written  inteiTogatories,  when  if  he  refused  to 
answer  them,  he  was  committed  until  he  consented  to  do  so  ;  and  some 
persons  who  persisted  in  refusing,  were  continued  in  confinement  during 
their  lives.  The  examination  was  secret,  and  the  defendant  was  neither 
allowed  advice  nor  notice  ;  but,  having  passed  his  examination,  he  was 
allowed  to  depart,  upon  securities  being  given  for  his  reappearance 
The  witnesses  were  then  similarly  examined  ;  but  the  defendant  was 
not  allowed  to  cross-examine  them.  When  the  cause  was  ready,  it 
was  entered  in  a  list,  and  the  defendant  was  summoned  to  hear  the 
judgment  of  the  Court. 

The  Court  sat  for  the  hearing  of  causes,  during  term  time,  twice 
and  sometimes  thrice  in  a  week.  After  the  sitting,  the  Lords,  with  the 
Clerk  of  the  Council,  dined  in  the  Inner  Star  Chamber,  at  the  public 
expense.  The  cost  of  these  dinners  rose  to  an  extravagant  sum  :  from 
1509  to  1590,  the  charge  for  each  dinner  varying  from  2/.  \s.  2d.  to 
17/.  or  18/.,  though  the  number  of  persons  dining  considerably  decreased 
during  that  time. 

The  number  of  the  Council  who  attended  the  Court,  is  said  in 
the  reigns  of  Henry  VII.  and  Henry  VIII.,  to  have  been  nearly  forty, 
of  whom  seven  or  eight  were  prelates :  in  tiie  reign  of  Elizabeth  the 
number  was  nearly  thirty  ;  but  it  subsequently  declined. 

The  Chancellor  proceeded  to  the  sittings  of  the  Court  in  great  state ; 
his  mace  and  seal  being  carried  before  him.  He  was  the  supreme 
Judge,  and  alone  sat  with  his  head  uncovered ;  and  was  attended  by 
his  own  servants  in  the  Court.  Upon  important  occasions,  persons 
who  wished  "  to  get  convenient  places  and  standing,"  went  tiierc  by 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  privileges  of  the  Chancellor  were 
much  abused :  he  appointed  his  own  kinsmen  and  favourites  to  be 
Counsel  to  the  suit,  and  he  made  orders  upon  private  petitions,  which 
were  a  source  of  profit  fo  his  attendants  :  he  could  sit  when  he  chose, 
md  command  the  attendance  of  the  other  Juilj^ea. 


Sidries  of  the  Starchamlcr.  205 

Upon  the  trial  of  causes,  the  parties  were  heard  by  their  Counsel, 
who  were  confined  to  a  "  laconical  brevity  ;"  the  examinations  of  the 
witnesses  were  read,  and  the  members  of  the  Court  proceeded  in 
silence  to  deliver  their  opinions.  They  spoke  in  order  from  the  inferior 
upwards,  the  Archbishop  always  preceding  the  Chancellor.  In  the 
case  of  equality  of  voices,  that  of  the  Chancellor  was  decisive.  He 
alone  had  the  power  of  assessing  damages  and  awarding  costs,  and 
he  alone  could  discharge  persons  sentenced  to  imprisonment  during 
pleasure. 

Every  punishment,  except  death,  was  assumed  to  be  within  the  power 
of  the  Court.  If  the  complaint  were  founded  upon  a  precise  statute 
(which  was  very  seldom  the  case),  the  Court  awarded  the  punishment 
inflicted  by  the  statute ;  but  if  the  offence  was  against  the  statute,  but 
the  bill  not  grounded  upon  the  statute,  they  usually  imposed  a  heavier 
punishment  than  the  statute.  The  following  is  an  instance  of  this 
practice: — "The  statute  of  the  5th  Elizabeth,  c.  14,  punisheth  the 
forging  of  false  deeds  with  double  damages  to  the  partie  grieved  ;  im- 
prisonment during  life,  pillory,  cutting  off  both  ears,  slitting  nostrils, 
and  forfeiture  of  all  his  goods  and  profits  of  all  his  lands  during  his 
life ;  and  the  publisher  of  such  deedes  (knowing  the  same  to  be  forged), 
with  like  double  damages,  pillory,  cutting  off  one  ear,  and  imprison- 
ment for  a  year.  The  Starre  Chamber  will  adde,  upon  the  forger,  a 
fine  to  the  value  of  all  his  estates,  whipping,  wearing  of  papers  through 
Westminster  Hall,  letters  to  bt;  seared  in  his  face  with  bote  irons ; 
and  to  the  publisher  likewise  a  great  fine  and  longer  imprisonment, 
not  to  be  released  until  hee  find  sureties  for  good  behaviour,  and  the 
like." 

This  catalogue  of  judicial  terrors  comprehends,  at  one  view,  all  the 
ordinary  punishments  of  the  Star  Chamber.  In  John  Lilburne's  case 
gagging  was  had  recourse  to,  in  order  to  stop  his  outcries  in  the  pillory. 
In  other  cases,  a  savage  and  cold-blooded  ingenuity  was  exercised  in 
the  discovery  of  novel  inflictions.  Thus,  one  Traske,  a  poor  fanatic 
who  taught  the  unlawfulness  of  eating  swine's  flesh,  was  sentenced  to 
be  imprisoned  and  fed  upon  pork. 

Mr.  Bruce  thinks  it  might  be  shown  that  most  of  these  infamous 
punishments  were  introduced  during  the  reigns  of  Henry  VII.  and 
Henry  VIII.,  and  grew  into  common  practice  under  Elizabeth. 
Whipping  seems  to  have  been  introduced  by  Lord  Keeper  Pickering, 
m  the  later  reign.  In  the  early  instances,  there  was  a  moderation  in 
fines ;  but  latterly,  they  were  excessive,  not  according  to  the  estate  of 
the  delinquent,  but  in  proportion  tp  the  supposed  character  of  the 


2o6  Stories  of  the  Starchatnher. 

offence,  "the  ransom  of  a  beggar  and  a  gentleman  being  all  one ;"  or, 
as  it  is  elsewhere  expressed,  "  the  Lord  Chancellor  useth  to  say  often, 
that  the  King  hath  committed  his  justice  to  them,  and  that  he  hath 
reserx'ed  his  mercy  to  himself;  wherefore  that  they  ought  to  look  only 
upon  the  offence,  and  not  upon  the  person,  but  leave  him  to  his  Majesty 
for  mercy,  if  there  be  cause."  In  the  reigns  of  Henrys  VII.  and  VIII. 
it  was  not  so.  The  clergy  were  then  in  the  habit  of  attending  the  Court, 
and  their  "  song  was  of  mercy." 

We  have  explained  that  the  Chamber,  as  it  appeared  shortly  before 
its  demolition,  was  not  the  original  one  in  which  the  Court  sat.  The 
ceiling  was  of  oak,  ornamented  with  roses,  pomegranates,  portcullises, 
and  fleurs-de-lis  ;  but  of  Tudor-Gothic  design,  which  raised  a  dispute 
as  to  its  identity.  This  was,  however,  set  at  rest  on  its  being  taken  down, 
by  finding  some  of  the  enriched  Gothic  panelling  of  the  old  Chamber 
behind  the  Elizabethan  panelling.  There  were  also  four  arched  door- 
ways of  the  Tudor  style,  within  the  modern  square  headed  door- 
frames. These  discoveries  prove  that  the  ancient  building  was  not 
destroyed,  but  was  merely  new-fronted  and  fitted  up  z^-cording  to  the 
style  prevailing  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth.  Under  the  principal  staircase 
was  a  wood-hole  with  a  stone  Gothic  entrance,  having  spandrels  orna- 
mented with  roses,  which  confimied  the  originality  of  the  building. 

Mr.  Bruce  commences  his  Second  Letter  by  observing,  that  the  causes 
determined  by  the  Council  during  the  reigns  of  Henry  VI., 
Edward  IV.,  and  Richard  III.,  although  important  and  interesting  in 
themselves,  are  not  of  such  a  character  as  can  well  be  brought  within 
the  limits  of  a  rapid  sketch  like  the  present ;  the  object  of  which  is  not 
to  enumerate  all,  or  even  many,  of  the  cases  determined  in  the  Star 
Chamber,  but  to  give  a  general  notion  of  the  practices  which  prevailed 
there,  and  the  spirit  which  pervaded  its  decisions,  during  the  several 
periods  of  its  existence. 

The  reign  of  Henry  VII.  is  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Star 
Chamber.  That  monarch  appears  to  have  had  a  fondness  for  sitting 
in  person  with  his  Council  upon  judicial  occasions;  and,  during  the 
first  and  second  years  of  his  reign,  held  "  twelve  several  stately  sessions  " 
in  the  Star  Chamber:  but  Mr.  Bruce  has  not  found  any  instances  of 
his  Majesty's  judicial  wisdom,  though  he  had  collected  around  him  a 
learned  council. 

During  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  our  attention  is  not  so  much  drawn 
to  the  particular  cases  determined  in  the  Star  Chamber,  as  to  the  gene- 
ral system  which  prevailed  thi-re.  This  Court  w;is  the  nisirumcnt  by 
which  the  politic  rapacity  of  the  Sovereign,  and  the  subtlety  of  his 


Stories  of  the  StarcJiamler.  207 

favourite  "promoters  of  suits"  accomplished  thnr  nefarious  purpost.s. 
I f  a  man  were  descended  from  a  stock  that  had  favoured  the  White 
Rose ;  if  he  were  suspected  of  sympathizing  with  the  misfortunes  of 
the  Earl  of  Warwick  ;  if  his  behaviour  indicated  a  lofty  spirit ;  or  even 
if  he  were  merely  thought  to  be  moderately  rich;  neither  a  dignified 
station  in  society,  nor  purity  of  life,  nor  cautiousness  of  conduct,  could 
afford  him  any  protection.  Some  obsolete  law  was  put  in  force  against 
him  by  the  King's  receivers  of  forfeitures.  If  his  purse  were  found  to 
be  empty,  the  prejudged  culprit  was  committed  to  prison,  until  a 
pardon  was  purchased  by  the  compassion  of  his  friends ;  if  full,  just 
enough  was  left  for  a  second  plunder.  The  King's  agents,  or  as  Hall 
calls  them,  "  ravenynge  wolves,"  in  these  transactions,  were  Empson 
and  Dudley,  who  filled  the  royal  coffers  and  enriched  themselves. 
"  At  this  unreasonable  and  extort  doynge,"  says  Hall,  "  noble  men 
grudged,  meane  men  kycked,  poore  men  lamented,  preachers  openlie  at 
Paules  crosse  and  other  places  exclaimed,  rebuked,  and  detested,  but 
tliey  would  never  amend." 

Mr.  Bruce  next  refers  to  two  papers  among  the  MSS.  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  selects  from  one  an  account  of  sums  received  for  cases 
in  which  persons,  who  had  been  prosecuted  for  breaches  of  the  law, 
either  real  or  pretended,  had  compounded  with  the  King,  and  paid 
fines,  through  Dudley,  to  be  discharged.  Among  the  persons  named 
in  this  paper,  are  many  of  the  chief  nobility  of  the  time : — The  unhappy 
Edward  Stafford,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  stands  at  the  head  of  the  list 
for  500  marks.  At  a  little  distance  follow  "  Sir  William  Capel,  alder- 
man of  London,  and  Giles  Capel,  his  son,  for  their  pardons,  loooA  ; 
besides  2615/.  6j.  8^.  for  other  troubles.  Sir  William  was  again  sued, 
for  "  things  done  by  him  in  the  time  of  his  mayoraltie;"  when  either 
his  purse  or  his  patience  was  exhausted,  and  he  refused  all  composition, 
"and  after  prysonment  in  the  Countour,  and  sheriff's  house,  was  by  the 
Kinge's  counsell  commanded  to  the  Tower,  where  he  remayned  until 
the  King  died,  and  shortly  ai'ter  was  delivered  with  many  other."  It 
seems  to  have  been  scarcely  possible  to  fill  any  of  the  civil  offices  with- 
out giving  occasion  of  advantage  to  these  watchful  informers. 
Escheators,  customers,  controllers,  sheriffs,  are  to  be  found  in  the  MSS. 
referred  to,  and  the  King  seems  to  have  taken  double  advantage  of 
these  officers,  by  first  selling  them  their  appointments,  and  afterwards 
scrutinizing  their  conduct  by  the  most  vigilant  severity.  Amongst  the 
items  quoted  from  this  account  are: — 

"  For  the  pardon  of  murther  of  Sir  John  Fines,  Kt.,  25  lib." 
(pounds). 


2o8  Stories  of  the  Starchamher. 

"  From  the  Earl  of  Derby,  for  his  pardon,  6000  lib." 
"  For  the  pardon  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  10,000  lib.'' 
From  these  and  many  other  similar  items,  it  would  seem  that  the 
King  assumed  the  power  of  withdrawing  causes  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
all  the  courts,  upon  the  accused  party  making  a  pecuniary  arrangement 
with  his  receivers;  or,  as  the  phrase  ran  in  the  Star  Chamber,  the 
"King  took  the  matter  into  his  own  hands,"  and  the  prisoner  was  dis- 
charged upon  his  Majesty  certifying  that  fact  to  the  Court. 

Bacon  has  made  us  acquainted  with  the  traditional  story  of  the 
King's  conduct  to  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  whose  retainers,  dressed  in 
liveries,  came  around  him  upon  occasion  of  a  visit  from  his  Majesty. 
Henry  expressed  his  thanks  for  the  good  cheer  he  received,  but  added, 
"  I  may  not  endure  to  have  my  laws  broken  in  my  sighte — my  attorney 
must  speak  with  you ;"  which  words  were  the  prelude  to  a  fine  of 
15,000  marks.  Tradition  has  probably  exaggerated  the  amount  of 
the  fine ;  but  the  anecdote  is  perfectly  in  character  with  the  practices 
evidenced  in  the  MSS.  referred  to. 

The  accession  of  Heiwy  VIII.  produced  an  extraordinary  change  in 
the  Star  Chamber.  The  Council  no  longer  listened  approvingly  to  the 
accusations  of  the  late  King's  Commissioners  of  Forfeitures,  but  im- 
mediately proceeded  to  sit  in  judgment  upon  the  accusers.  They  were 
committed  to  the  Tower  the  very  day  after  the  new  King  was  pro- 
claimed. All  offences,  except  murder,  felony,  and  treason,  were  par- 
doned ;  and  it  was  added,  that  if  any  man  had  wrongfully  sustained 
injury  or  loss  of  goods,  through  Empson  and  Dudley,  that  he  would 
receive  satisfaction  upon  petition  to  the  King.  A  crowd  of  applicants 
immediately  besieged  the  Council,  and  due  restitution  was  made ;  but 
fraudulent  claims  being  afterwards  put  forth,  the  Council  soon 
desisted. 

The  Promoters,*  "  notwithstanding  the  general  pardon,  were  sen- 
tenced by  the  Council,  some  of  them  to  pay  fines,  and  others  to  ride 
about  the  City  on  horseback,  with  their  faces  towards  the  horses'  tails, 
and  afterwards  to  stand  in  the  pillory  in  Cornhill,  and  wear  papers  in- 
dicative of  their  offences.  Such  a  punishment  was,  in  truth,  an  invita- 
tion to  the  people  to  revenge  themselves  upon  their  persecutors,  and 
the  opportunity  it  afforded  was  not  lost.  Three  of  the  ringleaders, 
upon  whom  this  sentence  was  carried  into  effect  on  June  6,  1509,  died 
in  Newgate,  within  a  few  days  afterwards ;  *  for  very  shame,'  say  some 


•  These  informers  were  so  called,  because  they  "promoted  many  lion<^ 
men's  vexations." 


Stories  of  the  Starc/iafnber.  209 

of  the  authorities,  but  more  probably,  as  assigned  by  others,  fi-om  ill- 
usage  in  the  pillory." 

The  fate  of  Empson  and  Dudley  is  well  known.  To  satisfy  public 
clamour,  they  were  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  death,  but  probably 
without  any  intention  of  can"ying  the  sentence  into  execution.  It 
happened,  however,  that  Heiny  set  out  at  that  time  upon  his  first  pro- 
gress ;  finding  himself  annoyed,  wherever  he  went,  by  outcries  for 
vengeance  against  the  unpopular  ministers,  he  at  once  despatched  a 
waiTant  for  their  execution,  and  they  were  accordingly  sent  to  the 
block,  to  add  to  the  enjoyment  of  a  royal  progress.  Empson's  for- 
feited mansion,  with  its  orchard  and  twelve  gardens,  situate  in  St. 
Bride's,  Fleet-street,  and  occupying  the  ground  now  known  as 
Salisbury-square  and  Dorset-street,  were  granted  to  Wolsey  on  the 
30th  of  January,  1510. 

For  the  honour  of  Wolsey  let  it  be  noticed  that,  during  his  ad- 
ministration, there  prevailed  in  the  Star  Chamber,  neither  the  pecuniary 
meanness  which  was  its  prominent  vice  under  his  immediate  predecessors, 
nor  the  cruelty  which  distinguished  it  at  a  later  period.  The  Council 
frequently  investigated  alleged  offences,  and  occasionally  committed  to 
the  Tower ;  but  there  are  no  traces  of  the  long  imprisonments,  the 
degrading  and  barbarous  punishments,  or  the  oppressive  fines,  which  it 
inflicted  at  other  periods.  Perhaps  this  circumstance  may  be  explained 
by  the  sanguinary  disposition  of  the  monarch,  and  the  obsequiousnesi 
of  juries.  Offences  which  were  formerly  thought  fit  subjects  for  the 
Star  Chamber,  were  now  punished  with  death ;  the  boundaries  of 
treason  were  enlarged  so  as  to  enclose  words,  and  even  wishes,  as  well 
as  acts ;  but  treason  was  a  crime  not  cognizable  before  the  Council, 
and  death  a  punishment  which  they  never  dared  to  inflict.  To  carry 
these  new  laws  into  effect,  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  resort  to  the 
ordinary  tribunals. 

Wolsey,  always  delighted  with  magnificence,  made  a  great  show  d 
It  in  the  Star  Chamber.  In  his  time,  "  the  presence  that  sat  with  him 
was  always  great ;"  and  Cavendish  has  detailed  the  pompous  "  order  of 
his  going  to  Westminster  Hall,  surrounded  by  noblemen,  and  preceded 
by  cross-bearers  and  pillar-bearers." 

Wolsey 's  administration  of  justice  in  private  causes  has  often  been 
praised.  In  the  Star  Chamber,  "  he  spared  neither  high  nor  low,  but 
judged  every  estate  according  to  their  merits  and  deserts."  In  political 
cases,  the  object  of  the  Cardinal's  Star  Chamber  prosecutions  doef 
not  seem  to  have  been  the  punishment  of  oflenders  so  much  as  the  pro- 
curing a  general  submission  to  the  authority  of  the  King.  Those  who 
*  J, 


210  Stories  of  the  Starchambcr. 

submitted  were  usually  pardoned,  whilst  the  obstinate  were,  in  most 
cases,  turned  over  to  the  common  law. 

After  the  time  of  W  olsey,  there  occurred  during  the  remainder  of 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  but  few  public  cases  of  sufficient  interest  to 
be  noticed  in  a  sketch  like  the  present.  Wolsey  stamped  his  individual 
character  upon  the  Court ;  he  made  it  subservient  to  the  furtherance  of 
political  and  personal  purposes ;  and,  when  he  fell,  the  Court  seems, 
for  a  time,  to  have  lost  the  use  to  which  he  applied  it.  His  successors, 
who  were  fully,  and  probably,  more  usefully  occupied  in  private  causes, 
brought  before  it  but  little  business ;  so  that,  with  the  exception  of 
occasional  interference  in  religious  matters,  '"nd  matters  of  police,  we 
icldora  hear  of  the  Star  Chamber 


211 


ESSEX. 

Colchester  Castle. 

Colchester,  the  town  of  Essex,  tliere  is  strong  evidence  to 

show,  was  originally  both  a  British  and  Roman  city,  being  most 
probably  on  the  site  of  the  Camalodunum  of  the  Romans,  which  was 
burnt  in  the  insurrection  under  Bop.dicea.  There  are  few  places  in 
England  where  more  Roman  antiquities  have  been  found.  Morant,  in 
his  History  of  Essex,  mentions  "  bushels "  of  coins  of  Claudius, 
Vespasian,  Titus,  Domitian,  and  their  several  successors.  The  town 
walls,  the  Castle,  and  many  of  the  churches  and  other  ancient  buildings, 
are  chiefly  built  of  the  Roman  brick ;  and  vases,  urns,  lamps,  rings, 
bracelets,  and  tessellated  pavements  have  been  found  here  in  great 
numbers. 

There  is  a  tradition  to  the  effect  that  Coel,  the  second  of  that  name, 
a  British  prince,  who  was  invested  by  the  Romans  with  the  government 
cf  the  district  of  which  Camalodunum  was  the  chief  station,  taking 
advantage  of  the  distracted  state  of  the  Roman  empire,  assumed  inde- 
pendence, and  gave  to  his  capital  the  name  of  Caer-Coel ;  and  he  is 
supposed  to  have  become  tributary  to  Carausius  and  other  usurpers  of 
the  Imperial  dominion,  to  which  they  threw  off  their  allegiance  in 
Britain.  Constantius  Chlorus,  afterwards  Emperor,  who  had  been 
associated  in  the  purple,  under  Diocletian  and  Maximian,  then  embarked 
at  Boulogne,  to  chastise  the  rebels  and  reduce  Britain  to  its  former 
state  of  dependence.  Having  landed,  he  commenced  the  siege  of  Caer- 
Coel,  as  being  the  focus  of  the  insurrection.  The  resistance  opposed  to 
his  arms  was  so  determined  that  the  siege  was  protracted  to  the  unusual 
period  of  three  years,  and  even  then  seemed  very  distant  fi-om  a  success- 
ful termination.  In  this  state  of  affairs  Constantius  beheld  Helena, 
Coel's  daughter,  who  was  born  in  Caer-Coel,  and  who  possessed  the  most 
fascinating  charms,  as  well  as  uncommon  endowments  of  mind.  Stnick 
with  her  beauty,  and  interested  by  her  acquirements,  Constantius 
became  enamoured  of  the  British  Princess,  and  hesitated  not  to  make 
peace  with  Coel,  on  condition  of  receiving  the  accomplished  Helena  as 
his  bride.  At  this  point,  the  tradition  branches  off  in  different  direc- 
tions;  one  account  asserting   that    the    marriage  was  immediately 


212  Colchester  Castle. 

celeb'-ated  willi  becoming  splendour;  another,  that  Helena  was  the 
mistress  of  Constantiiis  before  she  became  his  wife.  Both,  however, 
affirm  that  Constantine,  sumamed  the  Great,  was  the  issue  of  this  in- 
tercourse, whom  Henry  of  Huntingdon  styles  King  of  Colecestre  ;  and 
that  he  also  was  bom  at  Caer-Coel,  about  275.  Gibbon  denies  that 
a  British  king  was  the  father  of  Helena,  and  gives  that  honour  to  an 
innkeeper;  and  U'illiam  of  Malmesbury,  on  what  ground  is  not 
known,  asserts  that  Helena  was  a  "  tender  of  cattle."  At  the  same  time 
the  historian  observes,  the  legality  of  her  mairiage  may  be  defended 
against  those  who  have  represented  her  as  the  concubine  of  Gonstantius. 
The  real  birthplace  of  Constantine,  the  first  Roman  emperor  that 
openly  avowed  Christianity,  is  supposed  to  have  been  at  Naissus,  in 
Dacia.  After  her  departure  from  Britain,  Helena  made  a  journey  to 
Jerusalem,  where  she  is  said  to  have  discovered  the  Cross  on  which  the 
Saviour  was  crucified :  and  to  this  circumstance  the  arms  of  Colchester, 
which  display  a  cross  between  three  coronets,  are  attributed. 

The  history  of  the  Castle  was  very  ably  illustrated  by  the  Rev. 
C.  H.  Hartshome,  at  the  Congress  of  the  British  Archaeological  Asso- 
ciation, held  at  Colchester  in  the  year  1865,  from  which  we  quote  the 
most  interesting  points  of  the  construction  ot  the  Castle  and  its  history. 
Although  its  position  "  presents  nothing  remarkable  in  a  defensive  view, 
yet  it  has  some  peculiarities  of  an  architectural  nature  that  entitle  it  to  a 
careful  examination.  The  keep,  and  there  remains  nothing  besides,  was 
formerly  surrounded  by  a  fosse  and  palisade,  the  usual  method  of  for- 
tification at  the  time  these  military  buildings  were  erected.  The  tosse 
may  have  either  been  the  work  of  the  Romans  or  of  a  very  much  later 
period,  as  it  would  equally  suit  their  system  of  castrametation,  or  the 
practice  of  the  Normans.  Viewed  by  itself  it  has  very  little  evidence  in 
the  inquiry  as  to  when  the  Castle  itself  was  built.  If  traditionary 
accounts  are  of  any  value,  what  has  been  written  about  the  extent  of 
the  fosse  would  make  it  appear  more  probable  that  it  was  executed  by 
the  Romans  than  their  successors. 

"  The  admixture  of  Roman  biick  with  flints  and  cement  stone  imparts 
to  the  Castle  a  rugged  effect.  The  keep,  which  is  rectangular,  is  171  feet 
8  inches  from  north  to  south,  and  128  feet  S  inches  from  cast  to  west 
in  its  widest  dimensions,  thus  exhibiting  a  greater  size  and  larger  area 
within  its  extreme  outward  walls  than  the  White  Tower  of  London, 
Castle  Rising,  Bamborough,  Rochester,  or  any  other  castle  in  England. 
Its  altitude  is  below  all  of  them,  and  was  never  much  more  than  is  seen 
at  present. 

*•  The  angles  of  the  butti-csses  throuj;l»out  arc  built  with  Roman  biick, 


Colchester  Castle.  213 

or  an  Imitation  of  it,  nearly  half  their  height.  They  are  generally  used 
horizontally,  but  sometimes  endwise  and  hening-bone  fashion.  This 
irregularity  of  construction,  together  with  the  disfigurements  made  by 
an  ignorant  owner,  who  purchased  the  Castle  in  1683,  for  the  sake  of 
pulling  it  down  and  selling  the  materials,  give  the  whole  building  a 
rough  and  dilapidated  appearance.  The  best  material  employed 
throughout  the  entire  district,  when  bricks  are  not  used,  consists  of 
flint  and  Harwich  cement  stone.  In  this  Castle  they  are  used  with 
some  of  the  dressings  of  Caen  stone,  or  of  the  shelly  oolite  from 
Barnack,  near  Stamford. 

"It  is  clear  that  the  Castle  was  erected  before  1130,  since  in  this 
year  there  is  a  payment  entered  on  the  Great  Roll  of  the  Pipe,  of  one 
marc  of  silver  being  paid  to  Eraddus  the  mason.  There  being  no  other 
building  in  Colchester  then  in  the  hands  of  the  Crown,  this  outlay  must 
consequently  have  been  expended  upon  the  Castle.  No  further  mention 
of  it  occurs  until  1 1 70 ;  when  there  appears  an  entry  on  the  same 
records  for  works  which  cost  forty-seven  shillings.  Again  in  1 180 
the  turris,  as  it  is  termed,  being  the  keep,  was  repaired  at  an  outlay  of 
upwards  of  ten  pounds.  These  entries  upon  the  accounts  of  the 
sheriff  of  the  county  make  it  conclusive  that  the  whole  building  had,  by 
this  time,  been  finished,  but  began  to  require  reparation. 

"  The  gateway  of  the  keep,  ornamented  with  roll  mouldings  and  their 
nebule  ornament,  has  a  portcullis.  It  is  the  principal  feature  of  archi- 
tecture in  the  building,  and  is  of  the  period  at  which  we  have  arrived 
A  large  gateway  at  St.  Osyth  Priory  is  very  like  it  in  mouldings  and 
proportions,  though  the  one  at  Colchester  is  earlier. 

"  There  does  not  appear  any  entry  of  importance  during  the  reign 
of  King  John  either  on  the  Pipe  or  Close  Rolls.  However,  in  12 19, 
tlie  Bishop  of  London,  who  was  then  farmer  of  the  town,  received  a 
precept  from  Henry  II I .  to  select  two  legal  and  discreet  men,  who  should 
erect  a  palisade  round  the  Castle  in  lieu  of  the  one  recently  blown  down, 

*'  This  building  is  historically  memorable  for  two  assaults  that  it  un- 
derwent in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  first  was  made  by  Saher  de 
Quincy,  Earl  of  Winchester,  in  12 15,  by  whom  it  was  captured.  After 
a  few  days'  siege,  it  was,  however,  retaken  by  King  John.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  Louis,  son  of  Philip  II.  of  France. 
At  this  time  the  Dauphin,  partly  on  the  invitation  of  the  English 
nobility,  in  consequence  of  their  hatred  of  John,  landed  at  Dover,  and 
ultimately  succeeded  in  obtaining  possession  of  Rochester,  Guildford, 
Heveningham,  and  Colchester.  His  tenure  was,  however,  but  brief. 
The  barons  gained  their  liberties  without  foreign  assistance,  and  the 


214  Colchester  Castle. 

Dauphin  was  driven  out  of  the  Castles  he  had  taken  with  so  little 
difficulty. 

"  Colchester  Castle  was  never  of  the  same  altitude  as  other  Norman 
fortresses  met  with  in  England  and  elsewhere.  This  is  another  feature 
of  its  peculiarity.  Though  the  keep  is  the  largest,  it  is  also  the  lowest 
that  now  exists.  Its  vaulting,  too,  is  more  extensive  than  is  met  with 
in  other  castles.  This  gives  it  internally  a  degree  of  apparent  spacious- 
ness and  of  real  solidity  that  is  not  of  frequent  occurrence.  In  fact, 
this  species  of  waggon  vaulting  is  rarely  seen,  except  in  the  basements 
of  military  buildings.     The  walls  average  12  feet  in  thickness. 

"  In  a  document  printed  by  Dugdale,  in  his  Monasticon,  thei-e  occurs  a 
passage  which  must  for  ever  set  a  controverted  question  at  rest.  The 
writer  of  the  Genealogy  of  Tmtem  Abbey  speaks  of  Rohcsia,  the 
daughter  of  Hasoul  de  Harcourt.  She  manied  for  her  first  husband, 
Richard,  the  son  of  Eai'l  Gilbert,  who  was  amongst  the  most 
leading  of  the  Conqueror's  followers.  Her  second  husbanil  was 
Eudo  le  Dapifer,  who  is  here  spoken  of  as  the  builder  of  the  Castle  of 
Colchester  and  the  founder  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  John.  Between  the 
accession  of  Henry  I.  in  hoc,  and  the  death  of  Eudo  Dapifer  in  1120, 
there  was  ample  time  for  him  to  construct  the  Castle.  Still  more  time 
if  the  reign  of  William  Rufus  is  included,  which  would  widen  the  con- 
jectural period  of  its  erection  nearly  thirteen  years  more,  and  extend 
the  interval  during  which  the  building  must  be  confined  between  1087 
and  1120.     It  is  not  improbable  that  it  was  built  in  his  reign. 

"  It  is  recorded  in  the  history  of  the  foundation  of  St.  John's  Abbey, 
that  it  was  set  out  in  the  presence  of  Maurice  Bishop  of  London  in 
1096,  or  the  ninth  year  of  the  reign  of  William  II.;  that  the  first  stone 
was  laid  by  Eudo  Dapifer  after  Easter  the  following  year,  the  second 
by  Rohesia  his  wife,  and  the  third  by  Earl  Gilbert  her  brother.  The 
same  account  that  furnishes  these  particulars  also  states  how  Eudo 
became  invested  with  the  honour  of  dapifer  or  seneschal,  or,  as  the 
oflice  may  perhaps  now  be  termed,  royal  chamberlain.  William  Fitz 
Osborn,  who  had  previously  held  it,  placed  before  the  king  on  a  parti- 
cular feast  day,  in  virtue  of  his  duty,  a  goose  which  was  so  baiUy  roasted 
that  the  blood  came  out  when  it  was  pressed.  Being  very  deservedly 
reprobated  by  the  King  for  such  an  act  of  negligence,  with  diHiculty 
•comaching  the  royal  abuse,  and  unwillingly  shedding  tears,  he  stretched 
forth  his  hand  for  punishment,  when  immediately  Eudo  thrust  out  his 
own,  and  in  his  steatl  received  the  monarch's  angry  blow.  Eitz  Osborn, 
exa8|Hrratcd,  retired  from  oflice ;  but  he,  however,  askeil  that  he  should 
be  Bticcccdc'J  by  Eudo;  and  thus,  it  iii  said,  in  consequence  of  his 


Colchester  Castle.  215 

father's  deserts  as  well  as  his  own,  with  the  request  of  Fitz  Osbom, 
Elide  received  the  appointment. 

"  When  the  Conqueror  was  lying  under  his  last  sickness  at  Caen, 
Eudo,  though  promoted,  was  not  unmindful  that  upon  William's  decease 
another  person  might  succeed  as  dapifer  ;  therefore,  he  passed  over 
into  Normandy,  and  applied  to  the  future  king  to  be  confirmed  in  his 
office  at  his  father's  death.  He  really  deserved  it  from  his  hands  ;  for 
he  promptly  supported  him,  when  the  event  happened,  by  preparing 
the  English  nobility  for  his  succession  to  the  throne.  Nor  in  his  eleva- 
tion did  he  forget  the  people  of  Colchester.  After  his  visit  to  Nor- 
mandy he  returned  to  the  town  at  the  earliest  moment,  and  devoted 
himself  to  their  service.  He  both  fully  inquired  into  and  relieved  their 
grievances.  They,  in  turn,  confessed  their  obligation,  and  solicited  the 
King  that  they  might  be  placed  under  the  protection  of  such  a  bene- 
factor. Had  William  II.  granted  a  charter  during  his  reign,  undoubt- 
edly Eudo's  influence  would  have  obtained  the  fullest  privileges  for  th« 
men  of  Colchester.  His  name  ought  for  ever  to  be  enshrined  in  the 
grateful  memories  of  the  inhabitants,  since  it  is  associated  with  the 
brightest  period  of  the  town." 

His  remains  were  carried,  after  his  decease,  from  the  Castle  of  Preux, 
in  Normandy,  and  honourably  interred,  1 1 20,  in  the  Abbey  founded  by 
his  piety.  Of  that  monument  of  his  devotion,  little  belonging  to  his 
time  exists ;  but  the  Castle  he  built  testifies  his  former  power,  and  a 
most  interesting  building  must  always  appeal,  not  more  forcibly  for 
preservation  to  the  people  of  Colchester  than  to  England  itself,  as  an 
ancient  landmark  of  history. 

A  recent  writer  has  made  the  startling  assertion  that  Colchester 
Castle  was  once  a  temple  of  Claudius,  that  the  vaulted  room,  commonly 
called  a  Chapel,  was  the  podium  in  fi-ont  of  the  adytum  of  the  temple, 
whilst  the  building  itself  is  the  oldest  and  the  noblest  monument  of  the 
Romans  in  Great  Britain.  Mr.  Hartshome  does  not,  however,  assent 
to  these  ideas.  There  is  abundant  evidence  to  show  the  Roman  occu- 
pation in  the  reign  of  Claudius ;  but  there  is  none  to  prove  its 
antiquity  as  a  settlement  earlier  than  the  nation  made  on  the  southern 
coast  at  Pevensey,  Lymne,  Dover,  and  Richborough.  Roman  settlement 
in  Colchester  is  shown  not  by  its  name  alone.  It  is  visible  in  some  of  the 
materials  of  which  the  Castle  is  built ;  but  no  portion  whatever  of  the 
present  structure  can  be  attributed  to  a  period  before  the  Conquest, 
nor  can  it  be  assigned  to  any  other  than  the  Norman  period,  or  con- 
sidered otherwise  than  a  Norman  castle. 

When  the  Catholic  religion  regained  a  temporary  predominance  over 


2i6  The  Priory  of  St.  OsytJu 

the  Reformation  under  Mary  I.,  the  persecution  was  very  severe  in 
Essex,  twenty-one  persons  (five  of  them  women)  were  burnt  at 
Colchester,  and  one  died  in  prison  ;  and  two  persons  (one  a  woman) 
were  burnt  at  Stratford. 


The  Priory  of  St.  Osyth. 

The  county  of  Essex,  at  the  Reformation,  possessed  several  religious 
houses,  of  which  there  are  some  remains.  At  the  time  of  the 
Suppression  there  were  seven  of  the  greatest  monasteries,  of  which  that 
at  Chich,  ten  miles  south-east  of  Colchester,  was  the  third  in 
rank.  It  was  a  noble  foundation  for  Augustine  Canons,  and  lay 
near  the  sea-coast,  opposite  to  Mersey  Island,  the  parish  being  anciently 
part  of  the  royal  domains.  Canute  granted  it  to  Godwin,  and  the 
great  Earl  gave  it  to  Christ  Church,  in  Canterbury,  with  the  licence  of 
Edward  the  Confessor.  It  must  have  been  taken  from  that  Church  at 
or  soon  after  the  Conquest,  for,  at  the  time  of  the  Domesday  survey, 
the  Manor  belonged  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  and  formed  part  of  the 
endowment  of  the  monastery. 

St.  Osyth  was  very  celebrated  in  Essex.  There  are  many  histories 
of  her  life,  but  the  most  voluminous  is  that  in  Latin,  by  Capgrave, 
printed  by  Wyn-kyn  de  Worde,  in  151 6.  St.  Osyth,  according  to 
this  life,  was  the  daughter  of  Frithwald  or  Redwald,  the  first  Christian 
King  of  the  East  Angles,  and  of  Wilburga,  his  wife,  daughter  of  Penda, 
King  of  the  Mercians.  She  was,  when  very  young,  entrusted  to  the 
care  of  St.  Modwen,  at  Pollesworth,  in  Warwickshire.  While  there 
she  was  sent  with  a  book  from  St.  Edith,  sister  of  King  Alfred,  to  St. 
Modwen,  and  fell  off  a  bridge  into  a  river  and  was  drowned.  She 
remained  in  the  river  three  days,  and  was  restored  to  life  by  the  prayers 
of  St.  Modwen. 

St.  Osyth  having  returned  to  her  parents,  was  betrothed  by  them  to 
Sighere,  King  of  Essex ;  but  before  the  man-iage  was  consummated 
she  took  the  veil,  and  Sighere  gave  her  his  village  of  Chich,  and  built  a 
nunnery  there,  of  which  she  was  abbess.  The  house  was  of  the  order 
of  Maturines.  In  the  month  of  October,  653,  a  band  of  Danes  landed 
in  the  neiglibourhood  of  Chich,  and  ravaged  tlie  country.  St.  Osyth 
refused  to  worship  their  gods,  and  the  leader  of  the  Danes  ordered 
her  head  to  be  cut  off.  Tlic  saint  took  up  lier  head  in  hoi  hands,  and 
proceeded  to  the  Church  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  about  one-third  ol 
a  mile,  stopping  at  the  door  of  the  Church,  which  was  closed.    She 


The  Priory  of  St  Osytk.  217 

stnick  it  with  her  blood-stained  hand,  and  fell  prostrate.  On  the  spot 
where  the  saint  suffered,  a  fountain  of  clear  water  gushed  forth,  said  to 
DC  a  cure  for  many  diseases.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  legend, — 
which  is  confirmed  by  Essex  tradition — that  the  scene  of  St.  Osyth's 
martyrdom  was  in  the  Nun's  Wood,  and  that  the  old  fountain  which 
still  remains  there,  and  takes  its  name  from  the  murdered  nun,  is  the 
stream  which  ran  in  the  days  of  the  Heptarchy,  and  is  probably 
destined  to  flow  on  to  the  end  of  time. 

The  body  of  St.  Osyth  was  at  first  buried  in  the  Church  of  Chich, 
which  was  founded  by  her,  but  soon  removed  by  her  father  and  mothei 
to  Aylesbury.  Many  miracles  were  performed  at  her  shrine,  and  after 
forty-six  years,  by  miraculous  interposition,  the  body  was  translated  to 
Chich,  and  deposited  in  the  Church  therewith  great  solemnity.  A  long 
account  of  the  miracles  performed  at  the  shrine  of  the  saint,  or  through 
her  interposition,  is  given  in  the  life  in  the  Legenda. 

The  Nunnery  founded  by  St.  Osyth  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
most  ancient  monastic  establishment  in  Essex.  It  was  no  doubt 
destroyed  by  the  Danes  at  the  time  of  St.  Osyth's  death,  for  no  trace 
of  it  appears  in  the  records  extant  before  the  Conquest  or  in  Domesday 
Book.  The  Church  founded  at  Chich  by  St.  Osyth  in  honour  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  was  on  the  site  of  the  Church  now  standing. 

St.  Osyth  was  held  in  great  veneration.  Matthew  Paris  has  a  story 
how  a  certain  husbandman,  named  Thurcillus,  who  lived  at  Tidstude, 
a  village  in  Essex,  was  taken  into  purgatory,  hell,  and  paradise,  by  St. 
James  and  other  saints  ;  and  when  he  had  come  to  the  most  holy  and 
pleasant  place  in  all  paradise,  he  saw  St.  Catherine,  St.  Margaret,  and 
St.  Osyth.  This  is  said  to  have  happened  in  the  reign  of  King  John, 
A.».  1206. 

In  those  days  (says  Aubrey),  when  they  went  to  bed,  they  did 
rake  up  the  fire  and  make  a  x  in  the  ashes,  and  pray  to  God  and 
St.  Sythe  to  deliver  them  from  fire  and  from  water,  and  from  all 
misadventure. 

According  to  a  local  tradition,  on  one  night  in  every  year  St.  Osyth 
revisits  the  scene  of  her  martyrdom,  walking  with  her  head  in  her 
hands.  This  legend  probably  gave  rise  to  the  sign  of  the  Good 
Woman  at  Widford,  of  whom  it  used  to  be  said  that  she  was  the 
only  good  woman  in  Essex. 

In  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  the  Bishop  of  London,  Richard  de  Beimels, 
or  Beauvays,  built  a  religious  house  of  regular  canons  of  St.  Augustine 
at  Chich,  in  honour  of  the  two  great  Apostles  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul,  and  of  St.  Osyth.  Virgin  and  Martyr;  and  in  the  year  1120   ob- 


2  T  ^  The  Priory  of  St.  Osyth. 

tained  the  Manor  of  Chich,  which  then  belonged  to  the  see  of  London, 
from  the  Church  of  St.  Paul,  giving  in  exchange  for  it  fourteen  pounds 
of  land  in  Lodeswoode,  and  six  pounds  of  land  in  Southminster.  By 
this  charter  the  Bishop  granted  to  the  canons  several  extraordinary  pri- 
vileges and  immunities. 

Bishop  Belmeis  caused  the  arm  of  St.  Osyth  to  be  translated  to  the 
church  with  great  solemnity  in  the  presence  of  William  de  Corbill, 
the  first  Prior  of  the  house,  who  was  afterwards  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, and  other  Bishops,  remitting  twenty  days'  penance  to  all  that 
came  to  worship  it ;  and  relaxing  every  year  seven  days'  penance  to  all 
who  should  devoutly  come  thither  to  celebrate  her  festival,  which  was 
held  on  the  7th  August. 

It  is  said  by  William  of  Malmesbury  that  it  was  the  wish  and  in- 
tention of  the  Bishop  to  have  thrown  aside  the  dignity  and  splendour 
of  the  episcopal  see,  and  to  have  retired  as  a  brother  into  the  Priory. 
He  died,  however,  before  canying  his  intention  into  effect,  and  the 
monks  or  canons  of  St.  Osyth  buried  his  body  within  the  walls  of  the 
monastery,  under  a  marble  monument. 

The  first  Abbot  of  St.  Osyth  was  William  de  Corbill  or  Corboise, 
who  was  consecrated  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  in  the  year  1123,  and 
soon  after  built  Christ  Church,  Canterbury.  At  the  death  of 
Henry  I.,  he  espoused  the  cause  of  Stephen,  Earl  of  Blois,  and 
crowned  him  King. 

Among  the  benefactions,  King  Henry  II.'s  charter,  in  addition  to 
confirming  previous  charters,  confirmed  the  right  of  the  canons  to 
elect  their  own  Abbot,  and  gave  tliem  free  warren  in  the  lands  of 
Chich,  Birche,  and  Stowmarket,  with  the  liberty  to  keep  two  hamers 
and  four  foxhounds,  for  hunting  the  hare  and  fox.  He  also  granted  to 
them  a  free  market  at  Chich,  which  was  held  down  to  the  year  [317  ; 
for  in  that  year  a  presentment  was  made  at  Colchester  that  the  Abbot 
of  St.  Osyth  held  a  market  in  the  village  of  St.  Osyth,  every  Sunday, 
to  the  great  injury  of  the  town  of  Colchester. 

The  Clunch  of  St.  Osyth  having  been  given  to  the  canons  by 
Bishop  Ik'Imeis,  and  the  tithes  having  been  appropriated  to  them,  they 
served  the  cure  by  one  of  themselves.  On  9th  February,  1401,  temp. 
Henry  IV.,  Sir  William  Savvtre,  priest  of  St.  Osyth,  was  burnt  alive 
for  licrcsy. 

The  Priory  was  surrendered  to  the  King  in  1(539  ^'7  P'^or  Col- 
chester and  sixteen  monks.  It  was  granted  to  Tliomas  Cromwell, 
one  of  the  most  eminent  statesmen  under  Henry  VIII.  The  King  rc- 
i»';ir(lcd  the  ztal  of  liis  minister  by  the  t'ft  of  about  thirty  monactic 


The  Priory  of  St.  Osyth  2 19 

manors  and  valuable  estates  in  Efsex  and  other  counties ;  and  ainonjj 
others  by  patent  of  the  3i8t  Henry  VIII.  he  obtained  the  grant  of  the 
dissolved  Monastery  of  St.  Osyth,  and  all  the  houses,  buildings,  church, 
and  other  appurtenances  thereunto  belonging,  and  also  the  manors  or 
lordships.  On  the  attainder  of  Cromwell,  however,  his  pussessiont 
again  reverted  to  the  Crown. 

U'^illiam  Barlow,  who  was  very  active  in  promoting  the  tlestruc- 
tion  of  monasteries,  was  originally  a  canon  of  St.  Osyth.  He  fled 
liom  England  on  tiie  accession  of  Mary;  but  when  Elizabeth  came 
to  the  throne  he  was  promoted  to  the  see  of  Chichester.  The 
Priory  with  other  considerable  estates  was,  in  the  5th  Edward  VI., 
granted  to  Sir  Thomas  Darcy,  who  was  in  the  same  year  created  Baron 
Darcy  of  Chich,  and  made  K.G.  He  paid  to  the  King  for  the  grant 
3974/.  9J.  4|^.  Lord  Darcy  is  said  to  have  been  descended  from  the 
ancient  family  of  the  same  name. 

John,  his  son  and  successor,  entertained  Queen  Elizabeth  at  St. 
Osyth,  when  the  royal  festivity  was  inteiTupted  by  "  as  great  thunder 
and  lightning  as  any  man  had  ever  heard,  fi-om  about  eight  or  nine 
till  past  ten,  then  great  rain  till  midnight,  insomuch  that  the  people 
thought  that  the  world  was  at  an  end  and  the  day  of  doom  come,  it 
was  so  ten-ible." 

From  the  Dissolution  until  the  death  of  Darcy  Earl  Rivers,  the 
Priory  was  the  principal  seat  and  residence  of  the  Darcy  family.  The 
Priory  estates  passed  by  the  Earl's  death  into  the  Savage  family ;  but 
the  house  was  not  inhabited  until  the  time  of  the  Earl  of  Rochford, 
about  eighty  years  after  this  period.  It  is  from  this  time  probably  that 
the  Priory  began  to  fall  into  decay.  The  third  Earl  is  supposed  to  have 
pulled  down  part  of  the  ruins  of  the  Priory,  and  to  have  built  with 
the  materials  the  modern  mansion,  part  of  which  is  still  standing.  The 
third  and  fourth  Earls  made  the  Prior)'  their  ordinary  residence. 

Lord  Rochford  is  said  to  have  brought,  in  1768,  from  Lombardy, 
some  Lombardy  poplar-trees,  of  which  four  or  five  are  still  standing  in 
the  park.  They  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  planted  in  England. 

George  III.,  on  two  occasions,  when  he  went  to  inspect  the  camp  at 
Colchester,  stayed  at  St.  Osyth  as  the  guest  of  the  fourth  Earl.  The 
King  presented  two  fine  portraits  of  himself  and  Queen  Charlotte  to 
Lord  Rochford  in  their  coronation  robes,  by  Allan  Ramsay.  Lord 
Rochford  was  one  of  the  only  men  of  note  mentioned  by  Junius  in  his 
letters  with  commendation.  If  we  may  believe  the  statements  of  au 
anonymous  writer  in  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine,  he  was  privy  to  the 
authcrship  of  those  Ictteis.    The  wTiter  says  that  an  intimate  friend  of 


220  The  Priory  of  St.  Osyth. 

his  lordship  was  kept  waiting  outside  by  him  one  evening,  and  that 
when  Lord  Rochford  came  in  he  apologized  for  his  absence,  saying  that 
it  had  been  caused  by  an  affair  of  the  utmost  importance,  adding  that 
he  would  hear  no  more  of  Junius.  The  writer  gives  no  date,  but  says 
that  after  that  time  no  letters  were  published. 

This  Earl  was  a  personal  friend  of  George  II.  and  III.,  and  was  for 
many  years  in  their  sei-vice.  In  1 738  he  was  appointed  Lord  of  the  Bed- 
chamber to  George  II. ;  in  1748,  Vice-Admiral  of  the  Coast  of  Essex ; 
in  1756,  Lord-Lieutenant  and  Gustos  Rotulorum  of  the  County;  and 
at  George  II.'s  death  he  was  Groom  of  the  Stole,  and  as  such  was 
entitled  to  the  furniture  of  the  room  in  which  the  King  died.  Some 
pictures  of  which  the  Earl  became  thus  possessed  are  still  at  the  Priory, 
and  the  bed-quilt  until  recently  did  auty  as  an  altar-cloth  in  the  parish 
church. 

The  estate  some  years  ago  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  present  owner, 
Mr.  Johnson.  The  ancient  buildings  covered  a  great  extent.  The  ruins 
are  scattered  in  rich  profusion  in  all  directions  round  the  modern  dwell- 
ing-house— arches,  towers,  and  picturesque  remains  meet  the  eye  in 
every  direction.  During  the  last  hundred  years  the  ruins  are  said  to 
have  furnished  materials  for  repairing  houses  in  the  village,  and  even  for 
mending  the  roads.  Fortunately,  the  noble  gate  tower  and  the  Abbot's 
Tower  are  still  in  very  good  preservation. 

The  greater  part  of  the  existing  remains  were  built  by  Abbot  John 
Vyntoner,  the  last  Abbot  but  one,  in  tlie  early  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Erom  the  fact  that  Cromwell  chose  it  for  himself  out  of  all 
the  spoils  of  the  monasteries,  which  he  had  at  his  entire  disposal,  it  is 
evident  that  the  Priory  must  have  been  a  magnificent  building  at  the 
time  of  its  dissolution.  There  is  very  little  of  an  earlier  date.  The 
Norman  archway  on  the  Bury,  part  of  another  Norman  arch  at  the 
back  of  the  existing  house,  some  old  walls,  and  the  crypt  or  chapel,  are 
the  only  remains  of  the  first  building.  There  is  no  trace  of  an  abbey 
church,  so  that  probably  the  monks  used  the  parish  chinch.  The  gate- 
house, the  abbot's  tower,  the  clock  tower,  and  the  beautiful  oriel  window 
in  front  of  the  house,  were  evidently  erected  at  the  commencement  ot 
the  sixteenth  century. 

The  window  is  filled  with  heraldic  and  other  devices,  and  at  the  top 
are  two  dates — a.d.  mcccccxxvii.,  and  a.d.  1527.  The  initials  and 
rebus  of  Abbot  Vyntoner  are  many  times  repeated  in  tlie  window.  The 
two  shields  before  the  dates  are  curious  examples  of  the  monograms  ot 
that  early  date.  A  vine  growing  out  of  a  tun  is  on  several  shiclils,  but 
Uie  most  curious  rebus  of  the  Abbot  is  on  the  east  side  of  tlie  window. 


The  Priory  of  St.  Osyih.  23 1 

A  vine  sun'ounds  a  shield,  on  which  is  a  crosier  passed  through  a  mitre, 
and  issuing  out  of  a  tun,  with  the  initials  I.V.  on  either  side  of  the 
cros'er.  The  portcullis,  the  royal  arms,  the  three  crowns,  the  arms  of 
the  Priory — in  one  instance  with  a  sword — the  head  of  St.  Osyth,  the 
cross  keys  and  sword,  to  designate  the  apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  the  Papal 
arms,  the  five  wounds  of  our  Saviour,  and  the  monogram  of  the  Virgin 
Mary,  occur  frequently,  while  other  shields,  such  as  those  charged  with  a 
white  heart,  with  three  combs,  with  four  water  bougets  for  Bourchier, 
with  a  mullet  for  De  Vere,  may  represent  the  arms  of  benefactors  to 
the  Abbey.  Some  very  handsome  old  oak  panels,  which  evidently  came 
from  the  old  Priory,  are  of  the  same  time  and  the  work  of  the  same 
abbot.  His  rebus,  more  elaborate,  a  grape  vine  growing  from  a  tun,  is 
very  often  repeated,  and  the  vine  is  carved  on  nearly  every  panel. 

We  have  condensed  the  foregoing  details  of  this  important  religious 
house  from  a  paper  read  by  Mr.  Watney  to  the  Essex  Archaeological 
Society,  at  their  meeting  at  Colchester,  in  July,  1869.  The  materials 
for  this  paper  have  evidently  been  assembled  with  great  discrimination 
and  appreciative  acquaintance  with  the  history  of  the  Priory  and  its 
locality. 

Mr.  C.  F.  Haywood,  at  the  above-named  meeting  of  the  Essex 
Archaeological  Society,  made  these  supplemental  descriptive  notes: — 

Among  the  remains  there  are  none  of  the  Saxon  period,  but  some  of 
the  Nonnan  date,  and  some  beautiful  Early  English  near  the  large  tower. 
The  tower  gateway,  which  is  the  principal  entrance  to  the  Priory,  is  a 
noble  structure,  covered  with  rich  tracery,  niches,  and  ornaments,  and  is 
one  of  the  most  interesting  portions  of  the  remaining  ancient  buildings. 
To  the  east  of  the  gateway  are  three  lofty  towers,  commanding  ex- 
tensive views  of  the  surrounding  country.  The  quadrangle  of  the 
Priory  is  almost  entire,  but  some  of  the  buildings  are  of  modern  date. 
On  one  side  of  the  quadrangle  is  a  range  of  old  buildings  in  the  Tudor 
style,  and  having  several  sharp  pointed  gables  and  an  octagonal  obser- 
vatory rising  from  the  centre.  Among  the  ruins  in  the  garden,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  present  mansion,  is  a  pier — evidently  a  portion  of  the 
ancient  buildings — with  a  Latin  inscription  upon  it,  of  which  the  follow- 
ing is  the  translation : — 

"  This  ancient  wall  which  you  see,  is  preserved  to  declare  the  bounds 
of  this  reverend  monastery ;  and  you  may  rejoice  at  the  happiness  of 
your  time  between  the  mirth  and  pleasantness  of  this  place,  now  that 
superstition  has  been  banished  from  this  stately  mansion,  which  was 
consecrated  to  barrenness  and  sloth.     1760." 

The  parish  church  is  situate  near  the  Priory,  on  the  south  side,  and 


222  The  Priory  of  Little  Dunmow^ 

is  dedicated  to  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  It  is  a  large  and  stately  building, 
having  a  nave  and  lofty  north  and  south  aisles  and  chancel,  with  a  north 
aisle  or  chapel,  a/'d  a  large  square  tower  containing  six  bells.  The 
principal  objects  of  interest  in  the  building  are  several  defaced  monu- 
ments belonging  to  the  Darcy  family. 


The  Priory  of  Little  Dunmow,  and  the  Flitch  of  Bacon 
Custom. 

In  a  corn-field,  about  four  miles  distant  from  the  town  of  Dunmow, 
are  the  venerable  remains  of  the  Priory  Church  of  Little  Dunmow.  It 
was  formerly  the  eastern  end  of  the  south  aisle  of  a  magnificent 
collegiate  church,  erected  for  the  joint  use  of  the  parish,  and  of 
a  religious  house,  founded  a.d.  1104,  by  Juga,  sister  of  Ralph  Bayard, 
for  a  Prior  of  eleven  canons  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine,  and  con- 
secrated by  Maurice,  Bishop  of  London.  At  the  Suppression,  this 
monastery  was  given  to  Robert,  Earl  of  Sussex,  by  Henry  VIII. ;  but 
it  was  subsequently  in  the  possession  of  several  different  families.  Here 
the  fair  Matilda  lies  buried,  who,  better  known  as  Maid  Marian,  shared 
the  fortunes  of  Robin  Hood.  According  to  Mr.  Steevens,  Bishop  Percy, 
and  Drayton,  the  name  of  Marian  was  originally  assumed  by  "  a  lady 
of  high  degree,"  who  was  murdered  at  Dunmow  Priory. 

In  this  Priory  was  a  custom  which  is  believed  to  have  originated  with 
Robert  Fit/.-Walter,  in  thereign  of  Henry  III.,  that  "  he  which  repenteth 
him  not  of  his  marriage,  sleeping  or  waking,  in  a  yeere  and  a  day,  might 
lawfully  fetch  a  gammon  of  bacon."  To  this  custom  we  shall  presently 
return. 

In  the  chancel,  upon  an  altar-tomb,  is  the  fair  alabaster  effis'ies  of  the 
celebrated  Matilda.  On  the  head,  which  reposes  upon  a  cushion,  is  a 
covering  like  a  woollen  nightcap.  She  has  a  collar  of  SS ;  a  necklace 
of  pendants  falling  from  a  richly-embroidered  neckerchief,  a  i-ich  girdle 
and  long  robes,  the  sleeves  close  to  the  wrists,  and  slit  there.  Her 
fingers  are  loaded  with  rings.  At  the  head  were  two  angels,  now  mu- 
tilated, and  a  dog  on  each  side  of  her  feet.  According  to  the  (Chronicle 
of  Dugdale,  in  the  Monaiticon,  she  was  buried  across  two  columns,  in 
the  south  part  of  the  choir;  but  her  edigy,  with  its  slab,  is  now  placed 
upon  a  grey  altar-tomb,  decorated  with  shields  with  quatrefoils. 

The  lady's  history  has  been  already  related  at  pages  52  and  r,^ ; 
out  the  following  account  of  her  death  ditlers   from  that   given  in 


The  Priory  of  Little  Dunmow.  223 

the  foiTner  of  these  pages.  When  her  husband  was  again  outlawed 
by  King  John,  she  shared  his  misfortune,  and  at  his  death  took  refuge 
in  Dunmow  Priory  (which  appears  to  have  been  enriched  by  some 
member  of  her  family),  trusting  to  spend  the  residue  of  her  days  in  peace. 

The  tyrant,  however,  who  had  never  forgotten  her  bravery  in  Sher- 
wood Forest,  despatched  a  gallant  knight,  one  Robert  de  Medewe  (the 
common  ancestor  of  the  present  Earl  Manvers),  with  a  token  to  the 
fair  recluse — a  poisoned  bracelet.  Ignorant  of  the  accursed  deed  he 
went  to  perform.  Sir  Robert  arrived  at  the  Priory,  and  was  respectfully 
and  cordially  received.  Matilda  had  lost  the  bloom  and  vivacity  ot 
youth,  but  her  mien  was  stately,  and  her  person  still  imposing.  The 
rough  warrior  felt  the  flame  of  love  kindling  in  his  bosom,  but  he 
strove  to  stifle  it,  and  bidding  the  lady  a  hasty  adieu,  speedily 
departed.  Whilst  on  the  road  to  London,  his  fond  feelings  waxed 
stronger  and  stronger  the  farther  he  proceeded  from  the  object  of  them ; 
and  at  length,  being  unable  any  longer  to  curb  his  passion,  he  turned 
his  horse's  head,  and  retraced  his  way.  It  was  night  when  he  reached 
the  Priory,  but  the  light  of  many  topers  streamed  through  the  windows 
of  the  adjoining  church  on  the  weary  soldier,  and  the  solemn  dirge  of 
dsath  awoke  the  slumbering  echoes.  With  fearful  forebodings,  he 
entered  the  house  of  prayer,  and  there,  in  the  chancel,  on  a  bier  and 
covered  with  flowers,  was  stretched  the  lifeless  body  of  the  unfortunate 
Matilda.  The  bracelet  was  on  her  wrist,  it  had  eaten  its  way  to 
the  bone,  and  the  fiery  poison  had  dried  her  life-blood.  The  flesh 
was  very  pale,  but  a  heavenly  smile  irradiated  her  countenance:  the 
priests  were  standing  around,  weeping,  and  the  "  Dies  irae  "  died  away 
on  their  quivering  lips  when  the  warrior  entered.  He  flung  himself  on 
the  lady's  corpse,  invoking  a  thousand  maledictions  upon  his  own 
head.  No  persuasions  could  induce  him  to  return  to  the  camp  and 
Court,  but,  resigning  his  mail  for  the  cowl  and  gown,  he  became  a  faith- 
ful brother  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine. 

Facing  the  monument  of  this  hapless  lady,  is  another  erected  to  the 
memory  of  Walter,  first  of  the  name,  who  died  a.d.  1198,  and  was 
buried  with  Matilda  Bohun,  his  second  wife,  in  the  choir.  Sir  Walter 
is  clad  in  plate  armour,  beneath  which  is  a  leathern  shirt ;  the  legs  are 
broken  olf  at  the  knees ;  the  lady  wears  a  tiara  decorated  with  lace, 
eanings,  and  a  necklace;  their  heads  repose  on  cushions,  and  their 
hands  are  raised  in  the  supplicatory  attitude.  On  the  north  side  of  the 
chancel  is  a  mural  monument  to  the  memory  of  Sir  James  Hallet, 
Knight ;  and  near  it  stands  the  Chair,  in  which  the  happy  couple  who 
obtamed  the  flitch  of  bacon,  were  carried  on  men's  shoulders  round 


2 -'J  TJie  Prioty  of  Little  Dnnnio'W. 

the  site  of  the  Priory.  Probably,  it  was  the  usual  seat  of  the  old 
Abbots:  it  is  in  good  rondition,  considering  that  several  centuries  have 
glided  away  since  it  assumed  its  present  form.* 

The  last  Prior  of  Dunmow,  Geoffrey  Shether,  was  confirmed  in 
1518.  A  memorial  of  him  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  in  his 
book  of  household  expenses,  from  tlie  23rd  to  26th  of  Henry  VIII. 
That  he  was  a  thrifty  farmer  is  evident  from  many  payments  for  the 
"  sowing  of  Lente  corne,"  "  thresshyng  of  whete,"  "  mendyng  of  the 
plowys,"  "  spreddyng  of  dung,"  "  mowynge,"  &c.  Nor  did  Geoffrey 
forget  the  conventual  beer;  he  pays  twelve  pence  to  "  ij  men  tor  kepyng 
of  roky  8  fro  my  barley,"  and  three  shillings  to  "  a  woman  for  dryying 
of  malt."  At  harvest-time  he  employed  a  large  number  of  the  labour- 
ing poor,  both  men  and  women.  The  Priory  land  yielded  a  goodl) 
crop ;  and  Prior  Geoffrey  expended  in  harvest  wages  seven  pounds 
eight  shillings  and  fourpence,  which  seems  to  have  so  rejoiced  his  heart 
that  he  bought  new  "  harvest  bowlys,"  and  expended  fourteenpence 
for  "  harvest  dysshes,"  for  the  merry  feast.  Perhaps,  to  do  honour  to 
his  higher  guests,  he  also  purchased  "  iiij  botteles  of  wyn  xvid."  He 
delighted  in  the  songs  and  music  of  the  minstrels,  and  found  pleasure 
in  the  disport  and  jests  of  fools  and  players.  Sometimes  they  carne 
singly,  but  ofcen  in  little  companies,  to  the  Prior's  hall,  where  they 
were  well  received  and  always  dismissed  with  "  a  rewarde."  Nor 
must  we  overlook  the  payments  to  "  the  Lorde  of  Mysrulle  ot 
Dunmow." 

If  Prior  Geoffrey  loved  mirth,  he  was  not  neglectful  of  the  poor: 
he  gave  constantly  "  almes,"  "  maundy  money,"  &c.  What  became  of 
the  Prior  after  the  Dissolution  is  doubtful ;  perhaps,  like  many  others, 
he  sank  into  obscurity  and  indigence,  and  instead  of  his  "  venyson,"  his 
*•  botelle  of  red  wyn,"  and  his  "  creem  and  strawberries,"  which  his 
household  book  tells  us  he  sometimes  enjoyed,  he  had  to  learn  the 
rigour  of  a  more  monastic  but  less  agreeable  regimen. — Notes  and 
Queries,  1855. 

The  history  of  the  Bacon  Custom  is  thus  briefly  told:- -The  Flitch 
of  Bacon  is  one  of  those  numerous  old  local  customs  of  which  the  origin 
seems  to  be  entirely  forgotten.  All  we  really  know  is,  that  at  an  early 
pcrioti  the  custom  existed,  in  tlie  Priory  of  Little  Dunmow,  of  deli- 
vering a  Flitch  or  a  Gammon  of  Bacon  to  any  couple  who  claimed  it, 
and  could  swear,  a  year  ami  a  day  after  their  marriage,  tliat  during  that 
time  they  had  never  offended  each  other  in  deed  or  word,  or  ever  wished 

•  Contribution  to  the  Graphic  Illustrator,  1834. 


The  Priory  of  Little  Dunmdw.  225 

tnemselves  unmarried  again.  It  was  probably  a  custom  attached  to  the 
tenure  of  the  manor,  and  it  was  continued  after  the  Priory  was  dis- 
solved, and  the  land  had  passed  into  secular  hands.  Three  cases  of  the 
gift  of  the  flitch  are  recorded  as  having  occurred  before  the  Dissolution 
of  the  Priory ;  but  we  probably  owe  the  knowledge  of  these  to  mere 
accident  or  caprice,  and  they  do  not  prove,  as  some  seem  to  think,  that 
it  was  not  given  much  more  frequently.  On  the  contrary,  we  can  only 
account  for  the  great  celebrity  which  the  custom  at  this  place  enjoyed 
throughout  England  at  a  very  early  period,  by  assuming  that  the  prize 
was  frequently  claimed  and  adjudicated.  So  early,  indeed,  as  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  author  of  the  celebrated  satirical 
poem  of  P'tcrs  Ploughman,  who  lived  on  the  borders  of  Wales,  mentions 
the  custom  in  a  manner  that  implies  a  general  knowledge  of  it  among 
his  readers  ;  and  most  readers  of  the  present  time  will  remember  how, 
about  half  a  century  later,  Chaucer  put  an  allusion  to  it  in  the  mouth 
of  his  "  Wife  of  Bath,"  implying  that  it  was  then  a  matter  of  common 
notoriety  in  the  West  of  England.  About  the  middle  of  the  Kfteenth 
century — that  is,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI. — we  have  another  curious 
allusion  to  this  custom  in  an  English  theological  poem.  The  writer, 
speaking  of  the  general  corruptions  of  the  time,  which  affected  even 
domestic  life,  says  quaintly : 

"  I  can  fynd  no  man  now  that  wille  enquire 
The  parfyte  wais  unto  Dunmow ; 
For  they  repent  hem  within  a  yere, 
And  many  within  a  weke,  and  sooner,  men  trow; 
That  cawsith  the  wais  to  be  rough  and  over-grow, 
That  no  man  may  fynd  either  path  or  gap; 
The  world  is  turnyd  to  another  shape. 

"  Beef  and  moton  wylle  serve  welle  enow  ; 
And  for  to  fetch  so  ferre  a  lytil  bacon  flyk, 
Which  hath  long  hanggid,  rusty,  and  tow ; 
And  the  way,  I  telle  you,  is  combrous  and  thyk ; 
And  thou  might  stomble,  and  take  the  cryke.* 
Therefore  bide  at  home,  whatsoever  hap, 
Tylle  the  world  be  turnyd  into  another  shape." 

It  was  about  the  date  of  this  poem,  in  the  23rd  Henry  VI.  (i44_(;), 
that  the  first  recorded  award  of  the  Flitch  of  Bacon  took  place: 
it  was  then  delivered  to  Richard  Wright,  yeoman,  of  Bradbourghe, 
in  Norfolk.  In  the  7th  Edward  IV.  (1467),  Stephen  Samuel,  a 
husbandman,  of  Little  Easton,  in  Essex,  received  a  gammon  of  bacon ; 
and  a  gammon  was  similarly  given,  in  1510,  to  Thomas  Fuller,  of 
Coggeshall.  __^_ 

•  Break  thy  neck. 

a 


226  The  Priory  of  Little  Dimmow 

According  to  the  old  ceremonial  at  Dunmow,  the  party  claim.ng 
the  bacon — who  was  styled  the  Pilgrim — was  to  take  the  oath  in  rhyme, 
kneeling  on  two  sharp  stones  in  the  churchyard,  the  Convent  attending, 
and  using  a  variety  of  ceremonies.    The  oath  is  as  follows : — 

"  Wc  do  swear  by  custom  of  confession 
That  we  ne'er  made  nuptial  transgression ; 
Nor  since  we  were  married  man  and  wife, 
'Sy  household  brawls  or  contentious  strife, 
Or  otherwise — bed  or  at  board, 
Offended  each  other  in  deed  or  word ; 
Or  since  the  parish  clerk  said  amen, 
Wished  ourselves  unmarried  again ; 
Or  in  a  twelvemonth  and  a  day 
Repented  in  thought  or  any  way. 
But  continued  true  and  in  desire, 
As  when  we  joined  in  holy  quire." 

When  this  oath  was  taken  by  each  couple,  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
officer  who  administered  it  to  reply : — 

"  Since  to  these  conditions,  without  any  fear, 
Of  your  own  accord  you  do  freely  swear, 
A  whole  flitch  of  bacon  you  shall  receive, 
And  bear  it  hence  with  love  and  good  leave ; 
For  this  our  custom  at  Dunmow  well  known, 
Though  the  pleasure  be  ours,  the  bacon's  your  own." 

Then  the  Pilgrim  was  taken  on  men's  shoulders,  and  carried,  first, 
about  the  Priory  churchyard,  and  afterwards  through  the  village,  ati 
tended  by  the  monks  of  the  Convent,  the  bacon  being  borne  in  triumph 
before  them.  The  ceremonial  was  continued  with  ^little  alteration 
after  the  Dissolut'ion  of  the  monastery,  but  the  adjudication  then  took 
place  in  the  court-baron  of  the  lord  of  the  manor.  A  case  occurred  in 
1 70 1,  when  two  couples  obtained  each  a  gammon  of  bacon.  The  first 
claimants  on  this  occasion  were  William  Parsley,  butcher,  of  Mucli 
Easton,  in  Essex,  and  his  wife ;  and  the  second,  John  Reynolds, 
steward  to  Sir  Charles  Barrington,  of  Hatfield  Broad  Oak,  and  his 
wife.  They  took  the  usual  oath,  kneeling  on  two  stones,  in  the 
churchyard ;  but  the  jury  consisted  only  of  five  maidens,  without  any  of 
the  other  sex,  and  four  of  the  maidens  appear  by  their  names  to  Iiave 
been  sisters.  In  1761,  the  bacon  was  claimed  by  Thomas  Shakeshaft, 
weaver,  of  Wcathersfield,  in  Essex,  and  his  wife.  A  special  court- 
baron  was  held  for  the  investigation  of  the  case,  a  widow  being  the 
lady  of  the  manor  ;  and  six  maidens  and  six  bachelors  were  duly  enrolled 
as  the  jury.  The  claimants  had  been  mairicd  seven  years,  and  no  oh- 
jectlou  having  been  found  to  their  claims,  they  went  through  the  uuuui 


The  Pricry  of  Little  Diinmow.  227 

formalities,  and  received  a  gammon  of  bacon.  This  case  appears  to 
have  made  great  noise  in  the  country,  and  no  less  than  five  thousand 
persons  are  said  to  have  been  present,  the  road  being  literally  blocked 
up  by  the  various  vehicles  from  the  town  of  Great  Dunmow  to  the 
Priory.  It  is  said  that  on  this  occasion  the  successful  candidates  rea^ 
lized  a  considerable  sum  of  money  by  selling  slices  of  the  bacon  to  those 
who  had  come  to  witness  the  celebration.  This  procession  was  repre- 
sented in  a  large  print,  engraved  by  C.  Mosley,  after  a  painting  taken  on 
the  spot  by  David  Osborne:  this  print — a  Hogarthian  scene — is  now 
scarce,  and  fetches  a  high  price. 

From  this  time  the  custom  appears  to  have  become  obsolete ;  even 
the  stones  on  which  the  claimants  knelt  on  taking  the  oath,  were  carried 
away;  and  the  old  Chair,  of  carved  oak,  in  which  the  successful  couple 
were  borne,  alone  remains  in  the  Priory  church.  The  '^ohn  Bull  news- 
paper, Oct.  8,  1837,  speaks  of  the  renewal  of  the  observance  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Saffron  Walden  and  Dunmow  Agricultural  Society.  It  is 
reported  in  the  neighbourhood  that  when  our  excellent  Qiieen  had  been 
man-led  a  year  and  a  day,  the  then  lord  of  the  manor  privately  offered 
the  flitch  of  bacon  to  her  Majesty,  who  declined  the  compliment ;  but 
be  this  true  or  not,  the  same  generosity  was  not  extended  to  the  less 
elevated  claimants.  In  1855,  on  July  15th,  the  custom  was  observed  at 
the  instigation  of  Mr.  Harrison  Ainsworth,  the  novelist,  who  subscribed 
handsomely  towards  the  expenses,  besides  providing  the  flitch,  and 
eventually  gave  a  second.  The  honour  fell  upon  Mr.  Barlow,  a  builder, 
of  Chipping  Ongar ;  and  the  second  flitch  was  adjudged  to  a  couple  from 
London — the  Chevalier  de  Chatelain  and  his  wife.  As  the  lord  of  the 
manor  of  Little  Dunmow  refused  to  allow  the  revival  of  the  custom 
there,  it  was  held  at  Great  Dunmow.  But  it  met  with  great  opposition 
even  there,  headed  by  the  clergy  of  the  neighbourhood  ;  though  it  was 
very  popular  generally.  The  weather  proved  wet ;  but  the  adjudication 
took  place  in  the  Town-hall.  The  jury  consisted  of  six  maidens  and  six 
bachelors ;  Mr.  Ainsworth  presided  ;  there  were  two  sets  of  claimants 
and  their  witnesses,  and  counsel  for  claimants  and  opposition ;  but  they 
were  declared  worthy  of  the  prize.  In  1861,  just  a  century  after  the  last 
gift  of  the  bacon  at  the  Manorial  Court,  a  claim  was  made  by  a  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Hurrell,  owners  and  occupiers  of  a  farm  at  Felsted,  adjoining  Little 
Dunmow ;  but  the  lord  of  the  manor  refused  to  revive  the  custom. 
This  caused  much  discontent  in  the  parish,  which  was  only  appeased  by 
an  intimation  that  if  the  claimants  would  drive  over  to  Easton  Park,  on 
the  1 6th  of  July,  where  a  rural  fete  was  to  take  place,  they  would  there 
receive  a  gammon  of  bacon,  on  going  through  the  old  ceremonial    On 


228  The  Priory  of  Little  Dunmow. 

the  day  appointed,  a  multitude  of  pei-sons  assembled  before  the  Town 
Hall  in  Great  Dunmow,  with  music,  and  when  the  two  claimants 
ippeared,  they  were  escorted  in  triumph  to  the  Park,  and  the  gammon 
of  bacon  was  carried  before  them.  About  three  thousand  persons  wit- 
nessed the  proceeding,  which  consisted  in  taking  the  old  Oath  and  re- 
ceiving the  bacon,  without  the  jury  or  trial.  The  opposition  of  the 
lord  of  the  manor  to  any  revival  of  the  old  custom  in  Little  Dunmow 
continued  until  the  year  1869,  when  it  was  i-evived  on  Aug.  16,  the 
court  being  held  in  a  marquee ;  but  this  was  not  strictly  a  revival  of  an 
ancient  and  interesting  usage. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  the  general  history  of  this  "jocular  tenure," 
the  course  of  which  has  not  always  run  smoothly.  Thus,  it  appears 
that  in  1772,  June  12,  an  Essex  couple  made  their  pubHc  entry  into 
Dunmow,  escorted  by  a  great  concourse  of  persons,  and  demanded 
the  gammon  of  bacon,  declaring  themselves  ready  to  take  the  usual 
oath  ;  but  the  Priory  gates  were  found  fast  nailed,  and  all  admittance 
refused,  by  order  of  the  lord  of  the  manor ;  and  Gough,  writing  in 
1809,  mentioned  the  custom  as  abolished,  "  on  account  of  the  abuse 
of  it  in  these  loose  principled  times." 

The  Oath  was  sometimes  in  prose,  and  less  strict  than  that  at 
Dunmow:  this  was  certainly  done  as  early  as  the  loth  year  of  King 
Edward  III.,  when  the  manor  was  held  by  Sir  Philip  de  Somerville. 
The  Oath  was  taken  on  a  book  laid  above  the  bacon,  and  was  as 
follows:  "  Here  ye.  Sir  Philippe  de  Somervile,  Lord  of  "Whichenovre, 
maynteyner  andgyver  of  this  Baconne,  that  I,  A,  sithe  I  wedded  iJ,  my 
wife,  and  sythe  1  hadd  hyr  in  my  kepyng,  and  at  my  wylle,  by  a  yere 
and  a  day,  after  our  marriage,  I  would  not  have  cliaungcd  for  none 
other,  farer  ne  fowler,  rycher  ne  pourer,  ne  for  none  descended  of 
greater  lynage,  slepyng  ne  waking,  at  noo  tyme.  And  yf  the  seyd 
B  wer  sole,  and  I  sole,  I  would  take  her  to  be  my  wyfe,  before  all 
the  wymen  of  the  worlde  of  what  condiciones  soever  they  be,  good 
or  evylle,  as  helpe  me  God  and  his  Seyntys,  and  the  flesh  and  all 
fleshes." 

It  is  observable  that  this  Whichenovre  Flitch  was  to  be  hanging  in  the 
hall  of  the  manor,  "  redy  arrayed  all  times  of  the  yere,  butt  in  Lent." 
It  was  to  be  given  to  every  man  or  woman  married,  "  after  the  day  and 
the  yere  of  their  maniage  be  past :  and  to  be  given  to  everyche  mane  of 
religion,  archbishop,  bishop,  prior,  or  other  religious,  and  to  everyche 
preest,  after  the  year  and  day  of  their  profession  fuiished,  or  of  their 
dignity  rescyvcd." 

Tbi»  observance  was  not,  however,  confmed  entirely  to  Dunmovs' and 


Hedingham  Castle.  229 

Wjichenoure,  for  it  prevailed  in  Bretagne,  at  the  Abbey  of  St.  Melaine, 
near  Rennes,  where,  for  six  hundred  years,  a  flitch  of  bacon  was  given 
to  the  first  couple  who  had  been  married  a  year  and  a  day  without 
having  quarrelled  or  grumbled  at  each  other,  or  repented  of  theit 


Hedingham  Castle. 

This  Anglo-Norman  fortress,  which  gives  name  to  the  parish  in  which 
it  stands,  was  built  by  the  De  Veres,  to  which  family  the  lordship  of 
Hedingham  was  given  by  the  Conqueror.  The  architecture,  which  is 
very  similar  to  that  of  Rochester  Castle,  leads  to  the  supposition  that 
it  was  erected  about  the  same  time  as  that  fortress — viz.,  towards  the 
close  of  the  eleventh,  or  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century.  Maud, 
wife  of  King  Stephen,  is  said  to  have  died  here.  In  the  Civil  Wars  ot 
the  reign  of  King  John,  the  Castle  was  held  by  Robert  de  Vere,  Earl  of 
Oxford,  for  the  Barons,  but  was  taken  A.u.  12 16  by  the  King.  It  was 
retaken  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  by  Louis,  Dauphin 
of  France,  but  recovered  by  the  Earl  of  Pembroke  for  the  young  King. 
In  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  that  prince  was  sumptuously  entertained 
here  by  John  de  Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford,  who  had  suffered  severely  for  his 
attachment  to  the  Lancastrian  cause,  and  had  been  one  of  the  chief 
instruments  in  placing  the  crown  on  Henry's  head.  As  the  King  was 
departing,  he  observed  that  the  Earl,  to  do  him  honour,  had  put 
liveries  on  his  retainers ;  and  in  return  for  his  hospitality,  the  King  com- 
pelled him  to  compound  by  a  fine  of  15,000  marks  for  breaking  a 
statute  recently  passed,  forbidding  such  a  practice. 

The  De  Veres  retained  the  Castle  until  a.d.  1625.  It  has  since 
passed  through  various  hands.  The  Keep  is  the  only  part  remaining  ; 
it  is  one  of  the  finest  and  best  preserved  Norman  Keeps  in  the  king- 
dom. The  walls  are  above  100  feet  high,  from  11^  to  \2\  feet 
thick  at  the  bottom,  and  from  y.V  to  10  feet  thick  at  the  top;  the 
eastern  wall  is  at  least  a  foot  thicker  than  the  others,  having  been  so 
built,  it  is  conjectured,  to  withstand  the  violent  easterly  winds.  The 
building  is  a  parallelogram  of  55  feet  on  the  east  and  west  sides,  and 
62  feet  on  the  north  and  south.  At  each  angle,  on  the  top,  there  was 
formerly  an  embattled  turret;  two  of  the  turrets  remain  ;  the  parapet, 
now  destroyed,  was  also  embattled.  The  Castle  is  built  with  irregular 
flints,  or  stones,  embedded  in  grouting  or  fluid  mortar,  and  is  cased  on 
the  outside  with  squared  stone,  very  neatly  and  regularly  put  together. 


230       Saffron  Walden  Castle  and  Atidley  End. 

It  has  five  storeys,  including  the  ground-floor  and  platform.  The  prin- 
cipal entrance  is  on  the  first  storey,  and  on  the  west  side,  with  a  flight 
of  stairs  leading  up  to  it.  Entrances  to  the  ground-floor  were  made 
with  great  labour  in  1720.  The  whole  building  is  worthy  of  inspection ; 
it  has  some  fine  Norman  enrichments  in  the  interior. 


Saffron  Walden  Castle  and  Audley  End. 

Walden,  or  Saffron  Walden,  lies  near  the  north-eastern  extremity  of 
Essex,  and  is  named  from  Weald,  a  wood  and  den,  or  valley ;  its  prefix 
Saffron  is  derived  from  the  great  quantity  of  that  plant  formerly  cul- 
tivated in  the  neighbourhood ;  but  this  culture  has  been  long  aban- 
doned. At  the  period  of  the  Domesday  Survey,  the  lordship  of 
Walden  was  possessed  by  a  Norman,  Geoffrey  de  Magnaville,  one  of 
the  companions  of  the  Conqueror.  This  nobleman  erected  at  Walden 
a  Castle,  which,  judging  from  the  remains  of  it,  must  have  been  of  great 
strength.  These  remains  occupy  the  highest  part  of  the  town,  and  con- 
sist of  some  parts  of  the  walls  and  towers,  built  with  flint  boiuid  to- 
gether by  a  very  hard  cement.  Geoffrey,  the  grandson  of  the  founder 
of  the  Castle,  having  deserted  the  party  of  Stephen  for  that  of  the 
Empress  Maud,  obtained  of  her  permission  to  remove  the  market  from 
the  neighbouring  town  of  Newport  (now  a  village)  to  Walden. 
Having  been,  however,  seized  by  Stephen,  he  could  only  obtain  his 
freedom  by  the  delivery  of  his  castles,  Walden  being  one  of  them,  to 
the  King. 

The  same  nobleman  founded  here  in  1136  a  Benedictine  Priory, 
which  was,  some  years  later,  raised  to  the  rank  of  an  Abbey,  and 
obtained  se\'eral  valuable  benefactions.  AttheDissoIution,  the  site  was 
granted  to  Sir  Thomas  Audley,  I..ord  Chancellor,  and  the  title  of  Lord 
Audley  of  Walden  was  conferred  upon  him.  On  the  site  and  grounds 
of  the  monastery,  enlarged  by  a  subseciueiit  addition  of  200  acres, 
stand  the  present  mansion  and  park  of  Audley  End. 

"Lord  Audley  is  a  singular  instance,"  says  Lord  Campbell,  in  his 
Lives  of  the  Keepers  of  the  Great  Seal,  "of  a  statesman,  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI IL,  remaining  long  in  favour  and  in  ofllce,  and  dying  a 
natural  death.  Reckoning  from  the  time  when  he  was  made  Speaker 
of  the  House  of  Commons,  he  had  been  employed  by  Henry  constantly 
fincc  the  fall  of  Wolsey— under  six  Queens — avoiding  the  peril  of 
acknowledging  the  Pope  on  the  one  hand,  or  offending  against  the  Six 


Saffron  Walden  Castle  and  Atidley  End,         2jt 

Articles  on  the  other.  He  enjoyed  great  power,  amassed  immense 
wealth,  was  raised  to  the  highest  honours  and  dignities,  and  reaped 
what  he  considered  a  full  recompence.  According  to  a  desire  ex- 
pressed in  his  will,  he  was  buried  in  a  chapel  he  had  erected  at  Saffron 
Walden,  where  a  splendid  monument  was  raised  to  him,  with  a  poetical 
epitaph,  which  there  is  some  reason  to  suppose  that,  in  imitation  of  his 
immediate  predecessor,  he  had  himself  composed.  He  was  highly  con- 
nected by  marriage,  having  for  his  wife  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas 
Grey,  Marquis  of  Dorset ;  and  his  daughter  and  heiress,  after  having 
been  mairied  to  a  younger  son  of  Dudley,  Duke  of  Northumberland, 
becoming  the  second  wife  of  Thomas  Duke  of  Norfolk  ;  their  son 
being  the  ancestor  of  the  Howards,  Earls  of  Suffolk  and  Berkshire; 
'famous  in  his  day,'  says  Dugdale,  'for  building  on  the  ruins  of  the 
Abbey  of  Walden  that  stately  fabric,  now  known  by  the  name  of 
Audley  End  (in  memory  of  this  Lord  Audley),  not  to  be  equalled 
excepting  Hampton  Court,  by  any  in  this  realm.'  " 

Audley  End  is  the  seat  of  Lord  Braybrooke,  whose  father,  3rd 
Baron  of  Braybrooke,  edited  the  Diary  of  Samuel  Pepys,  F.R.S.,  Secre- 
tary to  the  Admiralty  in  the  reign  of  Charles  H.,  and  the  Private  Cor- 
respondence nf  Jane  Lady  Cornivallis,  1 6  [3  to  1644.  The  mansion, 
originally  more  extensive  than  at  present,  is  still  one  of  the  finest  in  the 
county;  it  is  said  to  have  cost  at  its  erection  190,000/.  The  house 
contains  some  interesting  historical  portraits,  and  other  pictures. 

On  a  green,  near  the  town,  is  a  singular  relic  of  other  times,  called 
the  Maze  ;  it  consists  of  concentric  circles,  with  four  outworks  cut  in 
chalk,  which  here  rises  to  the  surface ;  its  origin  and  use  are  unknown. 
Dr.  Stukeley  conjectures  it  to  have  been  a  British  cursus  or  place  of 
exercise  for  the  soldiery.  A  short  distance  from  the  town  are  the  re- 
mains of  an  ancient  encampment,  of  an  oblong  form,  called  Pell  Ditches, 
or  Rope  Ditches. 

We  have  referred  to  the  extensive  culture  of  Saffron  at  Walden,  in 
former  times.  Hakluyt,  when  he  visited  the  place,  was  told  that  a 
pilgrim  brought  Saffron  from  the  Levant  into  England  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  HL  The  first  root  of  Saffron  he  had  found  means  to 
conceal  in  his  staff,  made  hollow  for  that  purpose ;  and  so,  continues 
Hakluyt,  "  he  brought  the  root  into  this  realm  with  venture  of  life ;  for 
if  he  had  been  taken,  by  the  law  of  the  country  from  whence  it  came, 
he  had  died  for  the  fact."  It  was  a  costly  plant  at  Walden,  for  we  find 
the  Corporation  {>aying  five  guineas  for  a  pound  of  Saffron  to  present  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  upon  her  visit  to  the  town.  It  is  a  curious  old  place, 
which  Stukeley  thus  describes:  "  A  narrow  tongue  of  land  shook  itself 


232  Barking  A  bbey. — Boiv  Bridge. 

out  like  a  promontory,  encompassed  with  a  valley  in  the  form  of  a 
horse-shoe,  enclosed  by  distant  and  most  delightful  hills.  On  the 
bottom  of  the  tongue  stand  the  ruins  of  a  Castle,  and  on  the  top  or 
extremity  the  church,  round  which,  and  on  the  side  of  the  hill  and  in 
the  valley,  is  the  town  built,  so  that  the  bottom  of  the  church  is  as 
high  as  the  town,  and  seen  above  the  tops  of  the  houses."  Many  of 
these  are  of  quaint  forms,  with  gabled  fronts,  and  old  customs  linger 
here.  May  Day  is  kept  with  garlands  of  flowers,  in  the  centre  of 
which  is  placed  a  doll,  dressed  in  white,  according  to  certain  traditional 
regulations.  The  doll  represents  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  is  a  relic  of  the 
ages  of  Romanism. 

Barking  Abbey. — Bow  Bridge. 

Barking,  seven  miles  east  of  London,  on  the  river  Roding,  running 
into  the  Thames,  had  a  magnificent  Abbey,  one  of  the  earliest  of  our, 
monastic  institutions;  but  it  is  erroneously  said  to  have  been  the  first 
convent  for  females  established  in  the  kingdom.  It  was  founded  about 
675,  by  St.  Erkenvvold,  Bishop  of  London,  in  honour  of  Christ  and  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  his  mother,  for  Benedictine  nuns.  St.  Ethelburgh,  the 
founder's  sister,  and  first  Abbess,  after\vards  became  the  patron  saint  of 
the  convent.  The  day  dedicated  to  her  service  was  October  1 1,  and  in 
the  Abbey  accounts  mention  occurs  of  the  annual  store  of  provision 
of  "wheat  and  milk  for  Frimite  upon  St.  Alburg's  Day."  The  site  of 
the  conventual  buildings,  with  the  demesne  lands  of  the  Abbey,  were 
granted  by  King  Edward  VL  in  1551,  to  Edward  Fyncs,  Lord  Clinton. 
Scarcely  any  remains  of  the  Abbey  exist,  except  fragments  of  walls.  At 
the  entrance  of  Barking  Churchyard  is  an  embattled  gatehouse,  called 
Fire-Bell  Gate,  from  its  having  once  contained  a  bell,  which  Mr. 
Lysons  imagines  to  have  been  used  as  a  curfew-l>oll. 

St.  Erkenwold  died  at  the  Abbey  of  Barking,  and  upon  the  removal 
of  his  body  to  London  for  interment,  the  procession  was  stopped  at 
liford  and  Stratford  ferry  by  the  river  Hood  theiv ;  but  the  Chronicles 
record  the  intervention  of  a  miracle,  by  which  a  safe  and  easy  passage 
was  procured  for  the  corpse  of  the  holy  man  and  its  attendants. 

The  passage,  however,  became  dangerous  and  dillicult  to  other  pcr- 
aons,  many  losing  their  lives,  or  being  thoroughly  welted,  which  hap- 
pened to  be  the  case  of  Qiieen  Maud,  who  turned  tlic  road,  and  caused 
the  bridge  and  causeway  to  be  built  at  her  own  charge.  Such  was  the 
origin  of  the  first  "Bow  Bridge:'  it  is  described  as  a  "  rare  piece  of 
workc,  for  before  the  time  the  like  had  never  bcene  scene  in  England," 


Barking  A  bbey. — Bow  Bridge.  133 

Matilda  gave  manors  and  a  mill  to  the  Abbess  of  Barking  tor  the 
repair  of  this  bridge  and  highway :  the  bridge  had  originally  on  it  a 
chapel  erected  by  order  of  the  pious  Matilda. 

After  Gilbert  de  Montfichet  built  the  Abbey  of  Stratford-in-the- 
Marshes,  the  Abbot  bought  the  "  manors  and  mil,"  and  covenanted  for 
the  repairs,  which  he  entrusted  to  one  Godfrey  Pratt  for  "  certaine 
loaves  of  bread  daily ;"  but  at  length  he  neglected  his  charge,  and  the 
bridges  fell  into  decay.  Lysons,  however,  states  that  Hugh,  not 
Godfrey  Pratt,  in  the  reign  of  King  John,  by  aid  of  passengers,  kept 
the  bridge  in  repair ;  and  at  his  death  his  son  did  the  same,  and  ob- 
tained a  toll,  stated  by  Morant  to  have  been  "  for  every  cart  carrying 
corn,  wood,  coal,  &c.,  one  penny;  of  one  can-ying  tasel,  twopence; 
and  of  one  carrying  a  dead  Jew,  eightpence."  But  our  law  records 
show  that  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  the  Abbot  of  Stratford,  the 
Master  of  London  Bridge,  and  the  Master  of  St.  Thomas  of  Acre,  are 
charged  with  the  repair  of  the  Bridges  {t.e..  Bow-bridge,  and  the 
Chanelse-bridge),  as  holding  the  mills  and  other  property  originally 
given  by  Queen  Matilda  to  the  Abbess  of  Barking,  for  their  support 
and  maintenance.  It  was  finally  agreed  between  the  Abbess  of 
Barking  and  the  Abbot  of  West  Ham,  that  the  latter  should  repair  the 
Bridges  ever  after,  upon  receiving  a  sum  of  money  from  the  former. 
Pratt's  claim  for  toll  was  rigidly  enforced ;  for  "  he  put  staples  and 
bars  upon  the  bridges,  &c.,  and  refused  to  permit  carts  or  horse  even  to 
pass,  unless  they  were  nobility,  whom,  through  fear,  he  quietly  per- 
mitted to  pass."  The  remainder  of  these  proceedings  was  occasioned 
by  the  refusal  of  the  Abbot  of  Stratford  to  repair  this  great  work  of 
the  pious  Queen ;  and  he  did  not  acknowledge  his  liability  till  8th 
Edward  II.  The  question  was  finally  settled  in  1690,  from  which 
period  the  landownei"s  "  continued  the  charge  of  the  bridge  and  cause- 
way at  Stratford  for  the  free  and  uninterrupted  use  of  the  public,  as 
was  originally  intended  by  the  royal  founder."  [The  old  bridge  has 
been  removed,  and  a  new  one  erected  in  its  place  in  1835-9.] 

The  adjoining  village  of  Stratford,  on  the  London  side  of  the  bridge, 
appears  to  have  received  the  addition  of  the  word  atte-Boghe,  or  atte- 
Bowe,  to  its  name,  in  consequence  of  the  erection  of  this  bridge ;  and 
to  distinguish  it  from  a  place  of  the  same  name  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river.  Chaucer,  in  his  description  of  Dame  Eglantine,  the 
Prioress,  has : 

"  Frenche  she  spake  full  fayre  and  fetisly, 
After  the  scole  of  Stratford-atte-Bowe, 
For  Frenche  of  Paris  was  to  her  unknow." 


234  Barking  Abbey. — Boiv  Bridge. 

Among  the  many  miracles  wrought  in  Barking  monastery,  Bede  relates 
the  following  during  a  plague : — "  When  the  mortality,  ravaging  all 
around,  had  also  seized  on  that  part  of  this  monastery  where  the  m.en 
resided,  and  they  were  daily  hurried  away  to  meet  their  God,  the 
careful  mother  of  the  Society  often  inquired  in  the  convent  of  the 
sisters,  where  they  would  have  their  bodies  buried,  and  where  a  church- 
yard should  be  made  when  the  same  pestilence  should  fall  upon  that 
part  of  the  monastery  in  which  God's  female  servants  were  divided 
from  the  men,  and  they  should  be  snatched  away  out  of  the  world  by 
the  same  destruction.  Receiving  no  certain  reply,  though  she  often 
put  the  question  to  the  sisters,  she  and  all  of  them  received  a  mosi 
certain  answer  from  heaven.  For  one  night,  when  the  morning  psalm 
was  ended,  and  those  servants  of  Christ  were  gone  out  of  the  oratory  to 
the  tombs  of  the  brothers  who  had  departed  this  life  before  them,  and 
were  singing  the  usual  praises  to  the  Lord,  on  a  sudden  a  light  from 
heaven,  like  a  gi-eat  sheet,  came  down  upon  them  all,  and  struck  them 
with  so  much  terror  that  they,  in  consternation,  left  off  singing.  But 
that  resplendent  light,  which  seemed  to  exceed  the  sun  at  noon-day,  soon 
aft«r  rising  from  that  place,  removed  to  the  south  side  of  the  monastery — 
that  is,  to  the  westward  of  the  oratory — and  having  continued  there 
some  time,  and  scattered  those  parts  in  the  sight  of  them  all,  withdrew 
itself  again  up  to  heaven,  leaving  conviction  in  the  minds  of  all  that  the 
same  light,  which  was  to  lead  or  to  receive  the  souls  of  those  servants  of 
God  into  heaven,  was  intended  to  show  the  place  in  which  their  bodies 
were  to  rest,  and  await  the  day  of  the  resurrection.  This  light  was  so 
great,  that  one  of  the  eldest  of  the  brothers,  who  at  the  same  time  was 
in  their  oratory  with  another  younger  than  himself,  related  in  the  morn- 
ing, that  the  rays  of  light  which  came  in  at  the  crannies  of  the  doors  and 
windows  seemed  to  exceed  the  utmost  brightness  of  daylight  itself. 

"  There  was  in  the  same  monastery  a  boy,  not  above  three  years  old, 
called  Esion,  who,  by  reason  of  his  infant  years,  was  bred  up  among 
the  virgins  dedicated  to  God,  and  there  to  pursue  his  studies.  The 
child  iK'ing  seized  by  the  pestilence,  when  he  was  at  the  last  gasp,  callcxl 
three  times  upon  one  of  the  virgins  consecrated  to  Gi)d,  directing  his 
words  to  her  by  her  own  name,  as  if  she  had  been  present — "  Eadgith  ! 
Eadgith  !  Eadgith  !"  and  thus  ending  his  temporal  life,  entered  into 
that  which  is  eternal.  The  virgin  whom  he  called  was  immediately 
leized,  where  she  was,  with  the  Kime  distemper,  and  departing  this  life 
the  same  day  on  which  she  had  been  called,  followed  him  tjjat  called  her 
into  the  heavenly  country. 

**  Likewise,  one  of  tliose  same  servants  of  God,  being  ill  of  the  same 


Ingatestone  Hall. — Hiding-places  of  Priests.    235 

disease,  and  reduced  to  extremity,  began  on  a  sudden,  about  midnight, 
to  cry  out  to  them  that  attended  her,  desiring  that  they  would  put  out 
the  candle  that  was  lighted  there  ;  which,  when  she  had  often  repeated, 
and  yet  no  one  did  it,  at  last  she  said  •  '  I  know  you  think  I  speak  this 
in  a  raving  fit,  but  let  me  inform  you  that  it  is  not  so ;  for  I  tell  you  that 
I  see  this  house  filled  with  so  much  light,  that  your  candle  there  seems 
to  me  to  be  dark.'  And  when  still  no  one  regarded  what  she  said,  or 
returned  any  answer,  she  added :  '  Let  the  candle  burn  as  long  as  you 
will,  but  take  notice  that  it  is  not  my  light,  for  my  light  will  come  to 
me  at  the  dawn  of  the  day.'  Then  she  began  to  tell  that  a  certain  man 
of  God,  who  had  died  that  same  year,  had  appeared  to  her,  telling  her 
that  at  the  break  of  day  she  should  depart  to  the  heavenly  light.  The 
truth  of  which  was  made  out  by  the  virgin's  dying  as  soon  as  the  day 
appeared." 

About  two  miles  from  Barking,  on  the  road  to  Dagenham,  is  East- 
bury  House,  built  about  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.:  it  is  a  very  fine 
specimen  of  the  Tudor  style  of  domestic  architecture ;  the  whole  is  of 
brick,  unmixed  with  stone,  and  the  chimney-stacks  and  pinnacles  at 
the  corners  of  the  gables  are  fine  examples  of  moulded  brickwork.  It 
is  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  Sir  W.  Denham,  to  whom  Edward  VI. 
granted  the  estate.  An  unfounded  tradition  formerly  prevailed  in  the 
neighbourhood,  that  the  discovery  of  the  Gunpowder  Plot  was  owing 
to  a  mistake  in  delivering  a  letter  which  was  designed  for  Lord  Mont- 
eagle  to  an  inhabitant  of  Eastbury  House,  named  Montague. 


Ingatestone  Hall. — Hiding-places  of  Priests. 

This  curious  old  place,  with  a  strange  history,  is  twenty-four  miles 
from  London,  and  was  anciently  a  grange  or  summer  residence  belonging 
to  the  Abbey  of  Barking.  It  came  with  the  estate  into  possession  of  the 
noble  family  of  Pctre,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  continued  to  be 
occupied  as  their  family  seat  from  that  period  until  the  middle  of  the 
last  century.  The  Hall,  originally  built  on  the  plan  of  a  double  square, 
had  outer  and  inner  courts,  with  a  stately  towered  entrance  to  the  main 
building.  This  gateway  and  the  entire  outer  court  have  been  destroyed, 
leaving  only  three  sides  of  the  inner  court :  yet  this  fragment  of  the 
original  mansion  affords  ample  residence  for  seveml  families.  It  is  in 
plan  the  form  of  the  lower  half  of  the  letter  H,  and  formed  a  portion 
of  the  piincipal  part  of  the  house  ;  the  family  and  domestics  occupying 
the  right  or  south  wing,  and  the  guests  and  visitors  the  left  or  north 


236    higatestone  Hall. — Hiding-places  of  Priests. 

wing;  the  great  hall  being  the  centre.  The  south  front  is  broken  up 
by  picturesque  gables,  and  the  north  presents  a  nearly  unbroken  front, 
and  opens  to  a  spacious  lawn  and  garden,  with  gravel-walks  a  quarter  Oi 
a  mile  in  length. 

Few  persons  may  be  aware  of  the  existence  of  "  secret  chambers  "  in 
any  of  the  old  mansions  of  this  country,  particularly  in  those  erected  or 
occupied  by  the  followers  of  the  old  faith,  which  were  intended  for  priests' 
hiding-places,  which  the  state  of  the  law  formerly  rendered  necessary. 
It  appears  that  late  in  the  sixteenth  and  early  in  the  seventeenth  centuries, 
the  celebration  of  mass  in  this  country  was  strictly  forbidden  ;  indeed, 
on  the  discovery  of  an  offender  the  penalty  was  death.  The  Rev.  E. 
Genings  was  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered  on  the  loth  December,  1591, 
before  the  door  of  Mr.  Wells's  house,  in  Gray's  Inn  Fields,  for  having 
said  mass  in  a  chamber  of  the  said  house  on  the  previous  8th  of  Novem- 
ber. Hence  the  necessity  for  great  privacy.  It  was  illegal  to  use  the 
chapel;  the  priest,  therefore,  celebrated  mass  secretly  "in  a  chamber" 
opening  fiom  which  was  a  hiding-place  to  which  he  could  retreat,  and 
where,  in  a  trunk,  the  vestments,  altar-furniture,  missal,  crucifix,  and 
sacred  vessels  were  kept.  In  Challoner's  Memoirs  of  Missionary 
Priests,  it  is  said  that  "  Father  S.  J.  was  forced  to  be  concealed  all  day 
under  so  close  a  confinement  that  he  scarce  durst  for  months  together 
walk  out  so  much  as  into  the  garden  of  the  house  where  he  was  har- 
boured." 

The  "  secret  chamber  "  at  Ingatestone  Hall  was  entered  from  a  small 
room  in  the  middle  floor  over  one  of  the  projections  of  the  south  front. 
It  is  a  small  room  attached  to  what  was  probably  the  host's  bedroom  ; 
or,  at  all  events,  to  this  day,  the  apartment,  hung  with  some  fine 
tapestry,  is  in  good  preservation.  In  the  south-cast  corner  of  this  small 
room,  on  taking  up  a  carpet,  the  floor-boards  were  found  to  be  decayed, 
and  under  them  was  found  a  second  layer  of  boards,  about  a  foot  lower 
down.  When  these  boards  were  removed,  a  hole,  or  trap-door,  about 
two  feet  square,  and  a  twelve-step  ladder  to  dcvScend  into  a  room  be- 
neath, was  disclosed.  The  ladder  can  scarcely  be  original :  the  con- 
struction does  not  carry  one  back  more  than  a  century  ;  the  age  of  the 
chamber  itself  g(H's  back  to  the  reign  of  James  1.  Hy  comparison  with 
ladders  of  the  sixteenth  and  even  the  seventeenth  centuries,  this  ladder 
Is  slightly  made ;  the  sides  only  are  of  oak,  notched  to  receive  the  steps, 
which  are  nailed.  The  steps  are  more  worn  than  the  use  of  the  chamber, 
at  the  assumed  period  would  warrant.  The  existence  of  this  retreat 
must  have  U-cn  familiar  to  the  heads  of  the  family  f\)r  several  genera- 
tions: indeed,  evidence  of  this  was  afforded  by  a  packing-caae  directed 


Ingatestojie  Hall. — Hiding-places  of  Priests.       237 

"  For  the  Right  Honble.  the  Lady  Petre,  at  Ingatestone  Hall,  in  Essex:" 
the  wood  was  very  much  decayed,  and  the  writing  was  in  a  formal  and 
antiquated  style.  The  Petre  family  left  Ingatestone  Hall  between  the 
years  1770  and  1780. 

The  "  hiding-place  "  measures  fourteen  feet  in  length,  two  feet  one 
inch  in  width,  and  ten  feet  in  height.  Its  floor-level  is  the  natural 
ground  line :  the  floor  is  composed  of  nine  inches  of  remarkably  diy 
sand,  so  as  to  exclude  damp  or  moisture.  The  Hall  itself  is  of  the  age 
of  Henry  VII. ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  determine  whether  the  chamber  is 
coeval  therewith,  or  the  work  of  the  next  century.  The  style  of  the 
brickwork  of  the  party-wall  is  very  similar  to  that  of  the  main  walls, 
with  this  difference,  that  the  bricks  in  the  latter,  with  few  exceptions, 
are  two  and  a  quarter  inches  in  thickness  ;  while  those  in  the  former 
agree  only  in  this  respect  to  the  height  of  four  feet,  above  which  the 
majority  of  them  are  two  and  a  half  inches  in  thickness.  The  top  of 
the  party-wall  gathered  over  in  six  courses,  receives  a  "double-floor" 
i'lxteen  inches  thick  over  the  "  hiding-place ;"  while  the  rest  of  the  room 
above  is  a  single  floor  measuring  only  se-ven  inches— a  circumstance 
affording  strong  evidence  that  the  "  secret  chamber  "  is  an  addition  to 
the  original  structure.  A  cursory  examination  of  the  sand  composing 
the  floor  brought  to  light  a  few  bones,  small  enough  to  be  those  of  a 
bird,  and  in  all  probability  the  remains  of  food  supplied  to  some  un- 
fortunate occupant  during  confinement. 

The  most  interesting  relic  is  the  chest,  in  which  no  doubt  were  de- 
posited the  vestments,  crucifix,  altar-furniture,  and  sacred  vessels.  Care 
was  taken  that  the  apartment  should  be  perfectly  dry ;  the  chest  was, 
moreover,  kept  oft"  the  floor  by  two  pieces  of  oak  for  bearers.  The 
wood  of  the  chest  appears  to  be  yew,  and  is  only  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  in  thickness,  very  carefully  put  together,  and  entirely  covered  with 
kather,  turned  over  the  edge  inside  and  glued  down.  The  chest  was 
further  lined  with  strong  linen,  securely  nailed,  and  the  outside  edges 
ironbound  ;  five  iron  bands  pass  round  the  skirt-way,  two  others  length- 
wise, and  two  girt  it  horizontally.  The  metal  is  thin,  hard  hammered, 
one  and  one  eighth  and  one  and  quarter  inches  in  breadth,  and,  as  it 
were,  woven  alternately  under  and  over,  and  thickly  nailed.  The  nails 
are  clenched  at  the  back,  and  each  of  the  cross-bands  is  made  into  a 
hinge,  so  that  the  lid  hangs  upon  five  hinges.  There  are  two  hasped 
locks,  each  riveted  on  by  three  long  staples,  made  ornamental  by 
chisel-cuts  on  the  face;  a  projecting  rib,  formed  like  the  letter  S, 
encircles  the  keyholes  ;  and  there  is  a  third  means  of  fastening  adapted 
for  a  padlock  in  the  centre.    At  the  ends  are  long  thin  handles  of  quaint 


238  Wanstead  House. 

character,  like  the  rest.     Against  the  end  wall  is  firmly  stuck  a  small, 
rudely  modelled  clay  candle-holder. 

We  have  abridged  these  details  from  a  communication  to  'Notes  ami 
Queries,  No.  293,  by  Mr.  Henry  Tuck,  who  some  time  resided  at  the 
Hall,  and  took  especial  interest  in  its  history  and  contents.  At  Ingate- 
stone,  too,  is  The  Hyde,  late  the  seat  of  Mr.  John  Disney,  who  here 
assembled  a  most  interesting  collection  of  antiquities,  principally 
mediaeval,  known  as  the  Museum  Disneianum,  an  illustrated  account  of 
which,  in  folio,  has  been  published. 


Wanstead  House. 

The  ancient  manor  of  Wanstead,  granted  by  Edward  VI.  to  Robert, 
Lord  Rich,  was  sold  by  him  to  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  who,  in  1568, 
entertained  Queen  Elizabeth  at  the  manor-house  for  several  days  ;  and 
also  solemnized  his  marriage  here  with  the  Countess  of  Essex.  The 
estate  reverting  to  the  Crown,  King  James  gave  it  to  Sir  Henry  Mild- 
may,  who,  having  been  one  of  the  judges  of  King  Charles  I.,  the 
property  was  again  forfeited.  King  Charles  H.  gave  it  to  the  Duke  of 
York,  who  sold  it  to  Sir  Robert  Brooke.  Of  his  representatives  it  was 
purchased  by  Sir  Jcsiah  Child,  whose  son  Richard,  Earl  of  Tylney,  built 
here  a  magnificent  mansion  about  17 15,  from  designs  by  Colin 
Campbell.*  It  was  cased  with  Portland  stone,  was  260  feet  in  length, 
and  70  feet  in  depth,  and  was  one  of  the  noblest  houses  in  all  Europe. 
It  had  a  noble  portico  of  six  Corinthian  columns,  with  a  double  (light 
of  steps.  The  great  Hall  was  fifty-three  feet  by  forty-five,  the  ceiling 
painted  by  Kent  with  representations  of  Morning,  Noon,  Evening,  and 
Night.  In  this  Hall  were  antique  statues  of  Agrippina  and  Domitian  ; 
and  four  statues  of  Poetry,  Painting,  Music,  and  Architecture.  The 
principal  apartments  were  right  and  left  of  the  Hall ;  the  back  room, 
extending  the  whole  length  of  the  house,  was  hung  with  tapestry  of 
Telemachus  and  Calypso,  and  the  Battles  of  Alexander.  The  back 
front  contained  some  noble  apartments,  including  a  saloon  thirty  feet 
square,  in  which  were  antique  statues  of  Apollo  and  Bacchus,  and  a 


•  About  this  time  (17x7)  the  "tall  Maypole,"  which  "once  o'erlooked  the 
Strand,"  was  taktrn  down,  when  it  was  Ibund  to  measure  100  feet.  It  was 
obtained  by  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  and  borne  on  a  carriage,  for  timber,  to  Wan- 
•tead,  the  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Sidney,  where,  under  tlie  direction  of  the  Rev. 
Mr,  Pound  Breton,  it  was  placed  in  the  I'ark,  for  the  erection  of  a  hwgc 
telescope,  the  largest  then  in  »hc  world,  presented  by  a  French  gentleman  tg 
Ibe  Ro/al  Society.— A'c/fx  and  Qutriu,  No.  9. 


Wans t cad  House.  239 

•utue  of  Flora  by  Wilton.  The  principal  apartments  were  hung 
with  pictures ;  and  a  breakfast-room  contained  fine  prints  pasted  ori 
A  straw-coloured  paper,  with  engraved  borders. 

The  gardens  and  grounds  were  ornamented  with  fine  sculptures;  a 
circular  piece  of  water,  seemingly  equal  to  the  length  of  the  house;  the 
river  Roding,  formed  into  canals  ;  walks  and  wildernesses,  and  a  curious 
grotto.     In  the  Park  were  abundance  of  deer,  and  some  fine  timber. 

Wanstead  House  was  for  several  years,  during  the  minority  of  Miss 
Long,  occupied  by  the  emigrants  of  the  Royal  House  of  Bourbon.  It 
was  afterwards  repaired,  and  became  the  residence  of  its  rich  heiress. 
Miss  Long,  who  in  18x2  was  mairied  to  William  Tylney  Pole  Long 
Wellesley,  Esq.  Within  ten  years  the  magnificent  mansion  was  dis- 
mantled, and  the  sale  of  its  splendid  furniture  was  commenced  June  10, 
1822  ;  and  the  house  was  taken  down  and  the  materials  sold. 

Mrs.  Long  Wellesley  died  in  1825,  and  Mr.  Pole  Wellesley  (who 
succeeded  his  father  as  Earl  of  Mornington  in  1845)  married  secondly, 
in  1825,  the  third  daughter  of  Colonel  Thomas  Paterson.  The  death 
of  this  lady  in  the  year  1869  was  thus  commented  on  in  the  Jthenxum 
journal : — 

"  The  Countess  of  Mornington,  widow  of  the  notorious  William 
Pole  Tylney  Long  Wellesley,  Earl  of  Mornington,  who  died  recently 
In  her  76th  year,  adds  an  incident  to  the  Romance  of  the  Peerage. 
After  the  ruin  into  which  the  reckless  Earl's  affairs  fell,  some  forty 
years  ago,  this  lady  was  for  a  brief  time  an  inmate  of  St.  George's 
Workhouse,  and  more  than  once  had  to  apply  at  police  courts  for  tem- 
porary relief.  Yet  she  might  have  called  monarchs  "  couiins."  She  was 
descended  from  the  grandest  and  greatest  of  all  the  Plantagenets.  Her 
mother  (wife  of  Col.  Paterson),  Ann  Porterfield  of  that  ilk,  came 
through  Boyd,  Cunningham,  Glencairn,  and  Hamilton,  from  Mary 
Stuart,  daughter  of  King  James  the  Second  of  Scotland,  and  seventh  in 
descent  from  Edward  the  First  of  England.  The  earldom  of  Morn- 
ington, extinct  in  the  elder  line  ot  the  Wellesleys,  has  lapsed  to  tH? 
Duke  of  Wellington," 


2^0 


Havering  Bower,  or  Haverlng-atte-Bower. 

Th"s  small  Essex  village,  three  miles  north  of  Romford,  is  famous  iti 
royal  records  from  a  remote  period.  It  was  a  seat  of  some  of  our  Saxon 
kings,  and  a  favourite  one  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  who  took  great 
delight  in  the  place,  as  being  woody,  solitary,  and  fit  for  devotion. 
•'  It  so  abounded,"  says  the  old  legend,  "  with  warbling  nightingales, 
that  they  disturbed  him  in  his  devotions.  He,  therefore,  earnestly 
prayed  for  their  absence ;  since  which  time  never  nightingale  was  heard 
to  sing  in  the  Park,  but  many  without  the  pales,  as  in  other  places." 
The  little  parish,  though  near  London,  has  abundance  of  parks  and 
woodlands,  and  is  as  quiet  and  peaceful  as  any  in  Old  England ;  and 
the  sweet  notes  of  the  nightingale  are  still  heard  at  Havering, 
chattering  their  Maker's  praise  amid  tlie  shady  groves  of  this  pretty 
village.  Some  portion  of  the  walls  of  the  Confessor's  palace  was 
standing  in  our  time.  The  Park,  containing  about  looo  acres,  is  now 
let  on  lease  by  the  Crown. 

Havering  was  named  the  Bower,  from  some  fine  bower  or  shady 
place,  like  Rosamond's  Bower  at  Woodstock.  It  is  a  chaiTning  spot, 
having  an  extensive  prospect  over  a  great  part  of  Essex,  Herts,  Kent, 
Middlesex,  and  Surrey,  and  of  the  river  Thames. 

Besides  the  Confessor's  Palace,  there  was  another  called  Pergo, 
that  seems  to  have  been  always  the  jointure-house  of  a  Queen-consort. 
Here  died  Joan,  Queen  of  Henry  IV.  It  was  certainly  one  of  the 
royal  seats  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  for  during  her  progress 
into  Suffolk  in  1570,  she  sojourned  here  some  days.  The  Palace  was 
some  time  the  seat  of  Lord  Archer,  and  was  pulled  down  in  1770. 

In  the  parish  register  of  Havering,  is  an  entry  which  exhibits  a 
curious  fact,  showing  the  common  and  ordinary  use  of  the  word 
Sack.  In  November  1717,  was  voted  by  vestry,  that  "a  pint  of  Sack 
be  allowed  to  y«  Minister  y»  officiates  y«  Lord's  Day  y'*  AV inter 
Seascn."  Yet,  in  the  last  century,  the  editors  of  Shakspeai'e  were 
full  cf  conjcctuic  as  to  what  this  word  sack  applied. 


34.1 


Tilbury  Fort. 

Of  this  noted  place,  in  the  parish  of  West  Tilbury,  an  ancient  towm 
in  Essex,  opposite  Gravesend,  we  hear  more  than  of  the  Roman  origin 
of  the  locality.  Here  the  four  Roman  proconsular  ways  crossed  each 
other ;  and  in  the  year  620,  this  was  the  see  of  Bishop  Ceadda,  or  St. 
Chad,  who  converted  the  East  Saxons. 

Tilbury  is  a  regular  fortification,  constructed  for  the  purpose  of 
commanding  tiie  navigation  of  the  river  Thames,  and  it  has  been  termed 
"  the  Key  of  London."  It  was  originally  formed  as  a  mere  block-house 
in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.;  but,  after  the  Dutch  fleet,  under  De 
Ruyter,  had  advanced  into  the  Thames  and  Medway  in  1667,  Charles  II. 
converted  it  into  a  regular  fortification,  to  which  considerable  addi- 
tions have  since  been  made.  It  is  surrounded  by  a  deep  and  wide  fosse, 
which  may  be  filled  with  water  when  necessary ;  and  its  ramparts  pre- 
sent formidable  batteries  of  heavy  cannon  towards  the  river.  Its  chief 
strength  on  the  land  side  consists  in  its  being  able  to  lay  the  whole 
tract  under  water.  On  the  side  next  the  river  is  a  strong  curtain,  with 
a  noble  Water-gate  in  the  middle.  The  Fort  has  been  dismantled,  and 
some  parts  are  to  be  rebuilt. 

But  the  historic  renown  of  Tilbury  culminates  in  the  chivalrous  visit 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  the  Fort,  in  the  year  1588,  when  the  Spaniards  were 
expected  to  attack  England  with  their  "Invincible  Armada;"  and  a 
camp  was  formed  here,  where  a  body  of  more  than  18,000  men  under 
the  Earl  of  Leicester,  was  posted  ;  and  a  bridge  of  boats  was  established, 
both  as  a  means  of  communication,  and  also,  if  necessary,  to  block  up 
the  river. 

At  the  camp,  which  was  on  the  spot  wheie  a  windmill  subsequently 
stood,  Queen  Elizabeth  addressed  the  army  commanded  by  her  favourite 
Leicester,  in  the  following  celebrated  speech : — "  We  have  been  per- 
suaded by  some,  that  are  careful  of  our  safety,  to  take  heed  how  we 
commit  ourselves  to  armed  multitudes,  for  fear  of  treachery;  but  I 
assure  you,  I  do  not  live  to  distrust  my  faithful  and  loving  people.  Let 
tyrants  fear !  I  have  always  so  behaved  myself  that,  under  God,  I  have 
placed  my  choicest  strength  and  safeguard  in  the  loyal  hearts  and  good 
will  of  my  subjects.  And  therefore  I  am  come  amongst  you,  as  you  see 
at  this  time,  not  for  any  recreation  and  disport,  but  being  resolved  in 
the  midst  and  heat  of  battaile,  to  live  or  die  amongst  you  all ;  to  lay 
down,  for  my  God,  and  for  my  Kingdom,  and  for  my  people,  my 
honour  and  my  blood  even  in  the  dust.  I  know  I  have  the  bodie  but 
of  a  weak  and  feeble  woman,  but  I  have  tjie  heart  and  stomach  of  a 


242  Tilbury  Fort. 

King — and  of  a  King  of  England,  too  !  and  think  foul  scorn  that  Parma 
or  Spain,  or  any  prince  of  Europe,  should  dare  to  invade  the  borders  of 
my  realm,  to  which,  rather  than  any  dishonour  shall  grow  by  me,  I  my- 
self will  take  up  arms  ;  I  myself  will  be  your  general,  judge,  and  re- 
corder of  everie  of  your  virtues  in  the  field.  I  know,  alreadie,  for  your 
forwardness,  you  have  deserved  crowns  ;  and  we  do  assure  you,  on  the 
word  of  a  prince,  they  shall  be  duly  paid  you.  In  the  meantime,  my 
Lieutenant-General  (Leicester)  shall  be  in  my  stead,  than  whom  prince 
never  commanded  more  noble  or  worthie  subject ;  not  doubting,  but, 
by  your  obedience  to  my  General,  by  your  concord  in  the  camp,  and 
your  valour  in  the  field,  -we  shall  shortly  have  a  famous  victory  over 
those  enemies  of  my  God,  of  my  Kingdoms,  and  my  people."  The 
loyalty  of  the  Roman  Catholic  party  in  England  at  this  period  has  been 
much  doubted  ;  h\x\.  it  has  been  observed  that  "as  to  any  general  impu- 
tation of  disloyalty,  the  English  Catholic  nobles  cleared  themselves 
from  such  a  charge  in  the  day  of  the  Spanish  Armada,  when  Catholics 
and  Protestants  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  in  the  ranks  at  Tilbury ;  and  a 
Catholic  commanded  the  fleet  which  sent  Philip's  galleys  to  the  bottom." 

We  may  readily  understand  how  such  speeches,  at  such  a  time,  from 
such  a  commander,  must  have  excited  the  enthusiasm  of  the  armetl 
listeners ;  how  every  man  must  have  felt  himself  a  citizen  of  a  country 
that  would  surely  prove  to  be  what  its  opponents  denominated  their 
Armada — invincible.  Altogether,  the  men  of  England  under  arms  at 
the  time  amounted  to  130,000,  exclusive  of  the  levies  of  the  city  of 
London,  which  sent  forth  a  body  of  picked  men  10,000  strong,  an  army 
in  themselves  of  the  first  order  for  courage,  skill,  and  equipments,  and 
who  were  honoured,  as  they  deserved,  by  the  care  of  the  Queen's  own  per- 
son. The  English  naval  force  amounted  to  181  ships,  with  17,472  sailors. 

Philip  had  a  pompous  account  of  his  "  most  unhappy  Armada" 
printed  in  Latin  and  other  languages;  and  Cardinal  Allen  wrote  in 
English,  an  "  Admonition  to  the  Nobility  and  People  of  England  and 
Ireland,"  exhorting  them  to  rise  in  aid  of  tlie  Spaniards,  and  denouncing 
the  Queen  as  the  most  infamous  of  human  beings.  On  the  failure  of 
the  Expedition,  every  effort  was  made  to  suppress  this  pamphlet 

"  It  was  a  pleasant  sight,"  says  old  Stow,  "  to  behold  the  soldiers  as 
they  marched  towards  Tilbury,  their  cheerful  countenances,  courageous 
words  and  gestures,  dancing  and  leaping  wheresoever  they  came ;  and  in 
the  camp  their  utmost  felicity  was  hope  of  fight  with  the  enemy ;  where 
ofttimes  divers  rumours  rose  of  their  foes'  approach,  and  that  present 
battles  would  be  given  them  ;  then  were  they  joyful  at  such  news,  at  if 
lusty  giants  were  to  run  a  race." 


WaltJiam  Abbey,  243 

I'he  so-called  "  Invincible  Armada,"  as  most  English  readers 
are  aware,  did  not  afford  an  opportunity  for  Elizabeth's  land  forces 
to  show  their  valour.  Its  destruction  was  due  to  other  causes. 
When  this  formidable  armament — destined  by  the  bigoted  and  vin- 
dictive Philip  to  extinguish  for  ever  the  religion  and  liberties  of 
Protestant  Europe — left  the  shores  of  Spain,  it  consisted  of  130 
vessels,  of  larger  size  than  any  that  had  hitherto  been  seen  in  Europe, 
with  20,000  land  forces  on  board.  Of  all  these,  fifty-three  ships 
only  returned  to  Spain,  and  these  in  a  most  wretched  condition. 
The  seamen  and  soldiers  who  remained  were  so  overcome  by 
hardships  and  fatigue,  and  so  dispirited  by  their  failure,  that  they 
filled  all  Spain  with  accounts  of  the  desperate  valour  of  the  English, 
and  of  the  tempestuous  violence  of  the  ocean  by  which  they  were 
surrounded. 


Waltham  Abbey. — Burial-place  of  Harold.        ^jj^.^X}f 

Waltham  Abbey,  or  Waltham  Holy  Cross,  is  a  large  irregular 
town,  situated  near  the  River  Lea  (which  is  here  separated  into 
divers  streams),  and  skirted  by  low-lying  meadows.  The  Convent 
of  Waltham  appears  to  have  been  originally  founded  by  Tovi,  ^, 
Standard-bearer  to  Canute  the  Dane,  King  of  England.  This^ 
officer  built  a  hunting  seat  in  the  Forest,  near  which  he  formed  a 
village,  placing  in  it  "  threescore  and  six  dwellers,"  and  it  was, 
probably,  after  he  had  completed  this  settlement  that  he  founded 
the  Church.  This  place  was  called  Waltham  from  the  Saxon 
Weald-ham,  a  dwelling  on  the  forest  or  wild ;  and  from  a  Cross 
vvTth  the  figure  of  the  Saviour  upon  it,  said  to  have  been  found  at 
Montacute,  and  brought  hither,  was  derived  the  adjunct  name  of 
Holy  Cross.  In  the  hands  of  the  priests  of  Waltham,  this  crucifix 
manifested  miraculous  power  ;  and  among  the  wonders  told,  one  is 
that  Harold,  son  of  Earl  Godwin,  in  consequence  of  a  visit  to  it  was  ',  w)>^ 

cured  of  palsy,  whereupon  he  rebuilt  the  church,  increased  the  \     j        ^ 
number  of  canons  to  twelve,  settled  on  them  ample  estates,  and   ; 
provided  for  the  establishment  of  a  school  of  learning  at  Waltham.  D^ 

Farmer,  in  his  History  of  Waltham,  gives  an  account  of  the  foun-  ^^  • 

dation  of  the  Convent  somewhat  different  from  the  preceding,  which         V.  kxv^ 
is  fromDugdale'sil/t'/mj'/'/tw/.  Farmer  states  that  "Tovi, the  original 
fo\mdcr  of  Waltham  Abbey,  had  a  son  named  Athelstan,  who  proved 
a  prodigal,  and  quickly  spent  all  the  good  -"nd  gi  eat  estates  which  his 


\K 


2'44  Waltham  Abbey. 

father  had  got  together ;  so  that  by  some  transaction  this  place  returned 
to  the  CrowTi." — "  Edward  the  Confessor  then  bestowed  Waltham, 
with  the  lands  thereabouts,  on  Harold,  his  brother-in-law,  who  was 
then  only  an  Earl,  and  son  to  Earl  Godwin,  who  immediately  built 
and  endowed  there  a  monastery."  It  is  further  stated  by  Farmer,  that 
each  of  the  canons  had  one  manor  appropriated  for  his  support,  and 
that  the  Dean  had  six  ;  making  in  all  seventeen.  "  All  these  manors 
the  King  granted  them  with  sac,  sol,  tol,  and  team,  &c.,  free  from  all 
gelds  and  payments,  in  the  most  full  and  ample  manner,  as  appears  by 
the  charter  among  the  records  of  the  Tower."  Harold  is  commonly 
stated  by  historians  to  have  been  killed  at  the  battle  of  Hastings,  and 
intened  in  Waltham  Abbey  ;  but  there  are  so  many  versions  of  this 
event,  that  we  shall  for  the  present,  reserve  an  account  of  the  trans- 
action. 

From  a  treatise  among  the  Harleian  MSS.,  entitled  the  Life  and 
Miracles  of  Harold,  we  learn  that  William  the  Norman,  as  might  be 
expected,  showed  no  favour  to  the  religious  foundation  of  his  van- 
quished rival.  He  forcibly  took  away  from  the  Church  of  Holy 
•  Cross  a  quantity  of  valuable"  plate,  gems,  and  rich  vestments ;  but, 
fortunately  for  the  canons,  he  left  them  in  possession  of  all  their 
estates  and  revenues,  or  nearly  so.  Henry  \\.  entirely  dissolved  the 
foundation  of  dean  and  eleven  canons  at  Waltham  (as  is  stated  in  his 
charter),  on  account  of  the  lewdness  and  debauchery  of  their  lives.  Guido 
or  Wido  Rufus,  who  was  the  last  Dean  of  Waltham,  having  previously 
been  suspended  from  his  office,  resigned  in  1177,  to  the  King's  Com- 
missioners. This  preliminary  proceeding  having  taken  place,  the  King 
visited  Waltham  on  the  eve  of  Pentecost,  when  regular  canons  were 
substituted  for  secular,  the  number  enlarged  to  sixteen,  the  endow, 
ments  of  the  establishment  augmented,  and  Walter  de  Gaunt,  a  canon 
of  Oscney,  was  constituted  the  first  Abbot  of  the  new  foundation. 
The  Church,  thus  settled,  was  dedicated  first  to  the  Holy  Cross,  and 
afterwards  to  St.  Lawrence.  The  Church  was  then  declared  exempt 
from  episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  at  the  same  time  the  use  of  the 
/*ow///ira/j— namely  the  mitre,  crosier,  ring,  &c.— were  granted  to  the 
Abbot.     Waltiiam  is  still  exempt  from  the  Archdeacon's  visitation. 

Henry  U.,  by  his  charter,  not  only  confirmed  to  the  newly-established 
Auguslinian  canons  their  right  to  the  lands  given  by  Harold  and  others, 
but  he  also  added  to  their  possessions  the  manors  of  Siwardston  and 
Epping  ;  using  the  remarkable  expression,  that  it  was  fit  that  "  Christ's 
tpouit,  ihould  have  a  new  dowry."  Richard  1.  confirmed  former  grants, 
And  bestowed  on  the  canons  his  whole  manor  of  Waltham,  with  th» 


Walt  ham  Abbey.  2AX 

preat  wood  and  park,  called  Harold's  Park;  300  acres  of  assart  laml,  the 
'^  market  of  Waltham  ;  the  village  otJNasing,  a  member  of  A\'^altham  ;  and 
s/  i^o^acres  of  assart  land  there — the  canons  paying  yearly  to  his  exchequer 
60/.  in  lieu  of  all  services.  Further  additions  by  charter  and  valuab'e 
grants  were  made  to  their  property  in  the  same  reign.  Henry  III.  fre- 
quently took  up  his  residence  at  Waltham  Abbey,  and  in  requital  of 
the  hospitality  of  his  entertainers,  he  granted  them  the  right  to  hold  a 
fair  annually  for  seven  days.  At  a  subsecjuent  period,  two  fairs  were 
kept  here,  each  continuing  one  day,  the  first  on  the  3rd  of  May,  o.s., 
the  Invention  of  the  Cross;  and  the  other  on  the  14th  of  Septembe-, 
O.S.,  the  Exaltation  of  the  Cross. 

Henry  III.  not  only  greatly  augmented  the  privileges  of  Waltham 
Church,  but  also  bestowed  on  it  many  rich  gifts ;  and  from  this  time 
it  became  so  distinguished  by  royal  and  noble  benefactors,  as  to  rank 
with  the  most  opulent  establishments  in  the  kingdom.  It  was  to  avoid 
the  expenses  of  a  Court  that  this  monarch  so  frequently  made  the 
Abbey  his  place  of  residence.  Matthew  Paris  informs  us  that,  in  1242, 
the  Church  of  Waltham  was  again  solemnly  dedicated,  the  King  and 
many  nobles  being  present,  most  probably  when  Our  Lady's  Chapel 
(now  a  school-room)  was  added. 

When  Simon  de  Seham  was  Abbot,  in  1245,  ^  dispute  arose  between 
the  Abbot  and  the  townsmen  of  Waltham  about  the  common  land,  foi 
the  details  of  which  we  have  not  space.  The  townsmen,  fearing  they 
should  be  prosecuted  by  the  Abbot  for  injuries  and  outrage,  they 
desired  a  "  law-day,"  and  offered  to  pay  damages ;  but  instead  of  doing 
so,  they  went  to  London,  and  accused  the  Abbot  to  the  King  of  having 
wrongfully  taken  away  their  common  land,  and  bringing  up  new  cus- 
toms, adding  that  he  would  "  eat  them  up  to  the  bone."  The  Abbot 
then  excommunicated  the  men  of  Waltham ;  and  they  impleaded  him 
at  common  law,  for  appropriating  the  common  land  to  himself.  They 
were  unsuccessful,  and  after  a  long  suit  in  the  King's  Bench,  were  glad 
to  confess  that  they  had  done  wrong,  and  they  were  amerced  twenty 
marks,  which  were,  however,  remitted. 

The  same  Abbot  had  a  lawsuit  with  Peter,  Duke  of  Savoy,  the 
King's  uncle,  lord  of  the  manor  of  Cheshunt,  about  boundaries,  which 
was  eventually  settled  ;  but  a  dispute  about  land  was  not  decided  when 
the  last  Abbot  resigned  the  convent  to  Henry  VIII.  During  these  un- 
pleasant altercations,  the  monks  were  charged  by  their  enemies  with 
resorting  for  consolation  to  the  holy  sisters  in  the  nunnery  at  Cheshunt. 
Fuller  relates  that  Sir  Henry  Colt,  of  Nether  Hall,  who  was  a  great 
fevourite  with  Henry  VIII.  for  his  merry  conceits,  went  late  one  n:gUt 


246  Waltham  Abbey. 

to  Waltham  Abbey,  where,  being  duly  informed  by  his  spies  that  some  of 
the  monks  were  indulging  in  female  converse  at  Cheshunt  Nunnery,  lie 
determined  to  intercept  their  return.  With  this  intent,  he  had  a  buck- 
stall  pitched  in  the  narrowest  part  of  the  meadow,  or  marsh,  which  they 
had  to  cross  in  their  way  home  ;  and  the  monks  getting  into  it  in  the 
dark,  were  inclosed  (or  trapped)  by  his  servants.  The  next  morning 
Sir  Henry  presented  them  to  the  King,  who,  heartily  laughing,  declared 
that  he  had  often  seen  sweeter,  but  never  fatter  venison. 

Stow,  in  his  account  of  Wat  Tyler's  Rebellion,  says  that  King 
Richard  II.,  while  it  lasted,  was  "  now  at  London,  now  at  Waltham." 
In  1444,  the  campanile  of  the  Abbey  was  struck  with  lightning.  The 
last  event  of  any  importance  recorded  of  Waltham,  prior  to  the  Refor- 
mation, was  the  accidental  meeting  of  Thomas  Cranmer  (afterwards 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury)  with  Fox  and  Gardiner,  which  ended  so 
remarkably  in  the  advancement  of  the  former,  and  produced  such  im- 
portant consequences  in  the  affairs  both  of  Church  and  State.  Cranmer, 
when  Fellow  of  Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  retired  to  Waltham  (on 
account  of  the  plague  at  his  university),  to  the  house  of  a  Mr.  Cressy, 
whose  wife  was  his  relation.  Whilst  there,  Edward  Fox,  the  King's 
almoner,  and  Stephen  Gardiner,  his  secretary,  went  fortuitously  to  the 
same  house,  and  in  conversation  with  them  on  the  much-disputed 
point  of  the  King's  divorce,  Cranmer  said  that  "  it  would  be  much 
better  to  have  this  question,  '  Whether  a  man  may  marry  his  brother's 
wife  or  no  ?'  discussed  and  decided  by  the  divines,  and  the  authority  of 
the  Word  of  God,  than  thus  from  year  to  year  prolong  the  time,  by 
having  recourse  to  the  Pope."  This  opinion  being  reported  by  Dr.  Fox 
to  the  King,  the  latter,  in  his  occasional  coarse  language,  vociferated 
that  Cranmer  "  had  the  sow  by  the  right  ear,"  and  ordering  him  to 
Court,  he  commanded  him  to  write  on  the  subject  of  the  divorce,  and 
afterwards  rapidly  promoted  him. 

The  following  pleasant  anecdote  is  related  of  this  Monarch  ;  but  the 
Abbot,  who  enjoyed  the  benefit  of  his  prescribed  regimen  is  not  named. 
Henry,  having  disguised  himself  in  the  dress  of  one  of  his  Guards, 
contrived  to  visit,  about  dinner-time,  the  Abbey  of  Waltham,  where  he 
was  immediately  invited  to  the  Abbot's  table  ;  a  sirloin  of  beef  being 
set  before  him,  he  played  so  good  a  part,  that  the  Abbot  exclaimed, 
"  Well  fare  thy  heart,  and  here's  a  cup  of  sack  to  the  health  of  thy 
master.  I  would  give  a  hundred  pounds  could  I  feed  so  heartily  on  beef 
at  thou  dost ;  but  my  poor  queasy  stomach  can  hardly  digest  the 
breast  of  a  chicken."  The  King  pledged  him  in  return,  and  having 
dined  heartily,  and  thanked  him  for  his  good  cheer,  he  departed.  A  few 


IVaWiam  Abbey.  247 

days  after,  the  Abbot  was  sent  for  to  London,  and  lodged  in  the  Tower, 
wliere  he  was  kept  a  close  prisoner,  and  for  some  time  fed  upon  bread 
and  water.  At  length  a  sirloin  of  beef  was  set  before  hi.  1,  on  which 
he  fed  as  heartily  as  one  of  his  own  ploughmen.  In  the  midst  of  his 
meal  the  King  burst  into  the  room  from  a  private  closet,  and  demanded 
his  hundred  pounds,  which  the  Abbot  gave  with  no  small  pleasure ;  and 
on  being  released,  returned  to  his  monastery  with  a  heart  and  pocket 
much  lighter  than  when  he  left  it  a  few  days  before. 

On  the  sunender  of  Waltham  Abbey  to  the  King's  Commissioners 
in  1539,  the  clear  income,  according  to  Dugdale,  was  pco/.  \s.  yi.  Its 
superiors  were  mitred  parliamentary  Barons,  and  its  Abbots  held  the 
twentieth  place  among  them  in  parliament ;  the  number  of  Abbots  was 
thirty-two.  The  last  Abbot  was  Robert  Fuller,  who  was  afterwards 
elected  Prior  of  St.  Bartholomew's,  Smithtield.  He  may  be  reckoned 
among  the  literati  of  Waltham;  and  from  his  "  History,"  written  in 
460  pages  folio,  the  fair  manuscript  of  which  was  in  the  possession  of 
the  Earl  of  Carlisle,  Fuller,  his  namesake  (made  curate  of  Waltham 
by  that  nobleman  in  1648),  professes  faithfully  to  have  compiled 
almost  all  the  materials  for  his  account  of  Waltham  Abbey,  subjoined 
to  his  Church  History,  published  in  a  thick  folio  in  1656.* 

The  site  was  granted  for  thirty-one  years  to  Sir  Anthony  Denny, 
wno,  dying  about  the  second  year  of  Edward  VI.,  his  widow  bought 
the  reversion  in  fee  from  that  monarch,  for  somewhat  more  than 
3000/.  Sir  Edward  Denny,  grandchild  to  Sir  Anthony,  created  Earl 
of  Norwich  by  Charles  I.,  was  the  next  possessor ;  from  him  it  passed 
by  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to  the  celebrated  James  Hay,  Earl  of 
Carlisle,  and  next  to  the  family  of  Sir  William  Wake,  Bart.,  D.C.L. 

Though  the  buildings  of  Waltham  Abbey  were  once  so  extensive  as 
to  include  a  space  of  many  acres,  scarcely  any  part  of  it  remains  but 
the  na-ve  of  the  Abbey  Church,  now  the  parochial  church ;  the  Lady 
Chapel  on  the  south  side ;  some  ruinous  walls ;  a  small  bridge  and 
a  gateway,  near  the  Abbey  mills ;  and  a  dark,  vaulted  structure  con- 
nected with  the  Convent  Garden,  and  which  adjoined  the  Abbey  House 
(inhabited  by  the  Dennys) ;  of  this  no  remains  exist.  In  the  convent 
garden  is  an  aged  tulip-tree,  reported  to  be  the  largest  in  England. 

Originally,  the  Abbey  Church  was  a  very  magnificent  edifice,  and  its 
remains  must  be  regarded  as  the  earliest  undoubted  specimen  of  the 
Norman  style  of  architecture  now  existing  in  England.  Though  erected 

•  Among  the  natives  of  this  parish  of  some  degree  of  literary  merit,  are  re- 
corded Roger  de  Waltham,  canon  of  St.  Pauls,  a  writer  in  the  thirteenth 
century;  and  John  de  Waiiham,  keeper  of  the  privy  seal  to  King  Richard  II. 


-t- 


^ 


V^  248 


Walt  ham  Abbey. 


by  Earl  Harold  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  it  cannot  be  justly  referred 
to  any  other  style  than  that  which  the  Normans  permanently  inti'O- 
duced  after  the  Conquest. 

The  original  form  of  the  Church  was  that  of  a  cross  ;  and  a  square 
tower,  which  contained  "  a  ring  of  five  great  tuneable  bells,"  arose  from 
the  intei-section  of  the  nave  and  transept ;  the  two  great  western  sup- 
porters of  which  are  partly  wrought  into  the  east  end.  Some  part  of 
the  tower  fell  from  mere  decay;  the  remainder  was  purposely  de- 
stroyed in  1556.  The  Lady  Chapel  is  probably  of  Henry  HI.'s  time, 
and  is  supported  by  graduated  buttresses,  ornamented  with  elegantly 
formed  arches.  Beneath  it  is  a  crypt,  "  the  fairest,"  says  Fuller,  "  that 
ever  I  saw."  The  superstructure,  or  schoolroom,  has  been  much 
modernized.  In  the  contiguous  burial-ground  is  a  very  fine  widely- 
spreading  elm,  the  trunk  of  which,  at  several  feet  above  the  earth,  is 
17I  feet  in  circumference. 

The  crypt,  the  roof  of  which  is  sustained  by  groined  arches,  was 
formerly  used  as  a  place  of  worship,  and  it  had  its  regular  priest  and 
other  attendants :  the  reading-desk  was  covered  with  plates  of  silver. 
In  the  Churchwardens'  accounts  we  read  of  six  annual  Obits,  to  defiay 
the  expenses  of  which  various  lands  were  bequeathed,  and  a  stock  ot 
eighteen  conus  was  let  out  to  farm  for  i8j.  The  sum  allotted  for  each 
obit  was  thus  expended :  to  the  parish  priest,  4//. ;  to  our  Lady's  priest, 
r^d.;  to  the  charnel  priest,  ^d. ;  to  the  two  clerks,  ^d. ;  to  the  children 
(choristers),  3^. ;  to  the  sexton,  2d. ;  to  the  bellman,  2d. :  for  twc 
tapers,  2d. ;  for  oblations,  2d.,  &c. 

The  present  stone  tower,  at  the  west  end  of  the  Church,  rises  about 
eighty-six  feet,  and  was  erected  about  iflfjS,  but  the  bells  from  the  old 
steeple  were  sold  to  raise  money  for  its  completion  ;  so  that  Waltham, 
"  which  formerly  had  steeple-less  bells,  now  had  a  bell-less  steeple."  The 
defect  was  remedied  when  a  tuneable  set  of  bells  was  hung  in  the  pre- 
sent tower.    The  Church  is  new  in  course  of  repair. 

Many  persons  of  eminent  rank  were  buried  in  the  church  in  the  mo- 
nastic times.  Among  the  memorials  is  a  brass  plate  to  tlie  memory 
of  an  aged  couple,  with  these  lines: 

••  This  tyme  we  have  desired,  Ivord, 
VViicii  wee  might  come  to  ihce, 
That  from  this  state  of  siiifvll  life 
Dissolved  wee  niight  lie. 
Hut  thou,  O  Lord,  didst  time  prolonjfQ 
Our  lives  for  to  amende, 
That  so  in  tvmc  wee  niighle  rui-ente 
Of  All  did  tlicc  oflcudc 


The  Burial  of  Harold.  249 

And  now,  here  Lord  in  clay  we  lyoi 
Thy  meroy  to  expect, 
Hopinjj  that  thow  hast  cliosen  vs 
To  rest  with  thine  elect." 

Near  the  Abbey  Mill,  which  is  still  occupied  in  grinding  corn,  is  a  wide 
space  of  ground,  surrounded  by  small  dwellings,  called  the  Bramblings, 
but  formerly  Rome-land,  it  is  conjectured,  from  its  rents  being,  in  former 
times,  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  Holy  See.  On  this  spot  King 
Henry  VIII.  is  reported  to  have  had  a  small  house,  to  which  he  fre- 
quently retired  for  his  private  pleasures ;  as  may  be  inferred  from  Fuller, 
who  says,  "  Waltham  bells  told  no  tales  when  the  King  came  there." 
The  statute  fair  is  held  on  this  piece  of  land. 

The  various  streams  of  the  river  Lea,  in  this  neighbourhood,  are  tra- 
ditionally said  to  flow  in  the  same  channels  that  were  made  by  the  great 
King  Alfred,  when  he  diverted  the  current  of  the  river,  and  left  the 
Danish  fleet  on  shore.  They  are  now  partly  occupied  by  Government, 
for  the  use  of  the  Gunpowder  Mills  and  other  works  which  have  been 
erected  here  ;  and  which,  in  detached  branches,  extend  for  a  distance  of 
nearly  four  miles  towards  Epping. 

The  Burial  of  Harold. 

The  exact  spot  where  Harold  was  buried  is  one  of  the  most  doubtful 
points  in  English  history.  The  unfortunate  King  offered  up  his  vows 
and  prayers  for  victory  in  Waltham  Church,  previous  to  his  engage- 
ment near  Hastings  with  the  Norman  invader,  where  he  was  slam,  on 
Saturday,  the  14th  of  October,  1066,  having  reigned  nine  months  and  a 
few  days.  His  body,  by  the  mediation  of  his  mother  Githa,  and  two  re- 
ligious men  of  Waltham  Abbey,  called  Osgood  and  Ailric,  having  been 
obtained  of  the  Conqueror  (who,  for  some  time,  denied  it  burial,  aflSrm- 
ing  that  it  was  not  fit  for  him  who  had  caused  so  many  funerals),  was. 
with  the  bodies  of  his  two  brothers,  slain  at  the  same  time,  brought 
hither,  attended  by  a  small  dejected  remainder  of  the  English  nobility, 
and  with  great  lamentation  solemnly  interred. 

Harold's  tomb  was  situated  at  the  end  of  the  Church,  at  the  distance 
of  about  forty  feet  from  the  termination  of  what  forms  the  present 
structure :  it  was  plain,  but  of  rich  grey  marble,  and  had  on  it  a  sort  of 
cross  fleury,  and  was  supported  by  "  pillarets,"  one  pedestal  of  which 
Fuller  seems  to  have  had  in  his  possession  at  the  time  of  writing  his 
History.  The  inscription  is  said  to  have  been  only  these  two  expressive 
words,  Harold  infelix  ;  but  Weever  gives  half-a-dozen  lines  of  barbarous 
Latin,  which  are  probably  genuine,  as  they  are  preserved  in  a  very  ancient 


250  The  Burial  of  Harold. 

manuscript  once  belonging  to  the  Abbey.  In  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, a  gardener  belonging  to  Sir  Edward  Denny,  discovered,  in  digging, 
a  large  stone  coffin,  which,  from  the  spot  where  it  lay,  was  supposed  to 
contain  the  royal  corpse :  the  remains,  on  being  touched,  fell  into  dust. 
A  second  coffinwas  found  near  the  same  place,  containingan  entire  skeleton 
enclosed  in  lead,  which  conjecture  identified  as  one  of  Harold's  brothers. 

Florence  is  thought  to  tell  us  the  true  tale  in  words  speaking  straight 
from  the  heart  of  England's  grief — "  Heu,  ipsemet  occidit  crepusculi 
tempore."  The  son  of  Godwin  died,  as  such  king  and  hero  should  die, 
helm  on  head  and  battle-axe  in  hand,  striking  the  last  blow  for  his  crown 
and  people,  with  the  Holy  Rood  of  Waltham  the  last  cry  rising  from 
his  lips  and  ringing  in  his  ears.  Disabled  by  the  Norman  arrow,  cut 
down  by  the  Norman  sword,  he  died  beneath  the  standard  of  England, 
side  by  side  with  his  brothers  in  blood  and  valour.  What  then  was  the 
fiateof  the  lifeless  relics  which  alone  came  into  the  power  of  the  Conqueror? 

There  is,  however,  strong  contemporary,  or  nearly  contemporary, 
evidence  in  favour  of  the  burial  on  the  sea-shore,  and  at  Waltham  ;  and 
Mr.  Freeman,  in  his  account  of  Waltham  Abbey  (Trans.  Essex 
Archieological  Society),  makes  an  ingenious  attempt  to  reconcile  them. 
"  The  contemporary  Norman  evidence  seems  certainly  in  favour  of  the 
belief  that  Harold  was  buried  on  the  sea-shore,"  to  "  guard  the  land 
and  sea,"  as  the  Conqueror  is  reported  to  have  said  in  mockery.  But 
there  is  also  strong  evidence  in  favour  of  his  burial  at  Waltham.  Even 
the  Vita  Haroldi,  which  adopts  the  story  of  his  survival,  acknow- 
ledges that  he  was  supposed  to  be  buried  at  Waltham  immediately  after 
the  battle ;  and,  in  order  to  reconcile  these  two  conflicting  statements, 
conceives  that  a  wrong  body  was  buried  there  in  his  stead. 

William  of  Malmesbury  is  the  first  writer  who  speaks  of  Harold's 

burial  at  Waltham.     A  modern  poet  would  thus  call  up  tlie  scene  in 

the  Abbey  to  the  imagination  : — 

"  A  stately  corpse  lay  stretched  upon  a  bier, — 
The  arms  were  crossed  above  the  breast ;  the  face, 
Uncovered,  by  the  taper's  trembling  light, 
Showed  dimly  tlie  pale  majesty  severe 
Of  him  whom  death,  and  not  the  Norman  Duke, 
Had  conquered.  " 

Some  annalists  narrate  details  of  his  burial  there,  with  regal  honours, 
in  the  presence  of  many  Norman  nobles  and  gentlemen.  The  suppo- 
sition that  a  disinterment  took  place  after  Harold  had  been  buried 
in  Sussex  is  one  wliicli  tlicre  appears  no  reason  for  discrediting, 
although  some  are  of  opinion  that  the  story  is  merely  traditionary,  and 
that  it  originated  in  the  desire  of  the  monks  of  Waltham  to  attract 


The  Burial  of  Harold,  251 

visitors  to  their  shrine.      That  Haroicl  was  first  interred  in  Sussex 
immediately  after  the  battle  is  attested  by  contemporary  authority. 

Sir  Francis  Palgrave  asks  the  question,  "  Was  not  the  tomb  at 
Waltham  an  empty  one?"  On  the  Bayeux  tapestry  we  see  Harold 
falling  to  the  ground,  and  read  the  words,  "  Hie  Harold  interfcctus  est." 
In  history  his  burial  succeeds,  and  then  there  is  usually  an  account  of 
his  living  long  afterwards.  Aelred  of  Rievaulx  hints  at  Harold's  sur- 
viving Senlac  or  Hastings ;  and  Giraldus  Cambrensis,  in  his  It'nierary, 
mentions  that  the  Saxons  long  cherished  a  belief  that  their  king  was 
alive.  According  to  him,  a  hermit,  deeply  scan-ed  and  blinded  in  hii 
left  eye,  long  dwelt  in  a  cell  near  the  Abbey  of  St.  John  at  Chester. 
He  was  visited  by  Henry  I.,  who  had  a  protracted  private  discourse 
with  him.  On  his  deathbed  the  King  declared  that  the  recluse  waj 
Harold.  The  tradition  that  he  was  dragged  from  among  the  slain,  and 
carried  off  alive,  is  repeated  by  Bromton  and  Knyghton.  Sir  F.  Pal- 
grave obsei*ves : — "  If  we  compare  the  different  narratives  concerning 
the  inhumation  of  Harold,  we  shall  find  the  most  remarkable  discre- 
pancies. The  escape  of  Harold  would  solve  the  difficulty ;  the  tale, 
though  romantic,  is  not  incredible,  and  the  circumstances  may  easily  be 
reconciled  with  probability.  But  of  this  story  it  may  be  asked,  in  the 
wordo  of  Fuller,  where  is  the  grain  of  probability  to  season  it  ?  It  is 
well  known  how  fondly  a  vanquished  people  will  embrace  any  suppo- 
sition of  escape  for  a  popular  and  native  king : 

"  View  not  that  corpse  mistrustfully, 
Defaced  and  manijled  though  it  be, 
Nor  cherish  hope  in  vain." 

After  Flodden  the  idea  was  long  entertained  that  James  IV.  sunived. 
So  was  it  with  respect  to  Don  Sebastian  of  Portugal ;  Frederick, 
Emperor  of  Germany,  and  the  Greek  Emperor,  Baldwin  of  Flanders  ; 
and  with  such  delusions  may  be  classed  the  supposed  escape  of  Harold." 
It  has,  however,  remained  for  Mr.  Freeman,  in  the  Transactions  oj 
the  Essex  Archa:ological  Society,  to  reconcile  two  different  statements, 
totally  rejecting  the  account  of  the  escape  from  Hastings.  He  sup- 
poses that  Harold's  body  was  buried  under  a  heap  of  stones  on  the 
Sussex  coast,  nearly  in  the  same  manner  as  Charles  of  Anjou  buried 
the  body  of  Manfred  in  1266  ;  and  that  a  few  months  afterwards  it  was 
conveyed  to  Waltham,  and  there  solemnly  interred,  most  probably  in 
the  apse  of  the  church.  It  was,  in  all  likelihood,  moved  to  the  centre 
of  the  new  choir  of  Henry  I.,  and,  perhaps,  again  placed  in  a  new 
tomb  when  the  choir  was  rebuilt  in  1242. 


252 


Nell  Gwynn's  House,  and  Looking-glass. 

At  Newport,  a  straggling  village,  near  the  Great  Eastern  Railway, 
42  miles  fi-om  London,  was  once  a  Castle,  and  the  village  is  at  least  as 
old  as  the  time  of  the  Conqueror.  Near  the  end  a  fine  old  house  is 
visible  from  the  railway,  possessing  some  quaint  gable  ends  and  windows^ 
and  in  this  house  it  is  said  that  one  of  the  "  merry  Monarch's  "  many 
mistresses  resided  some  time,  to  wit,  Nell  Gwynn,  ancestress  of  the 
Hereditary  Grand  Falconer  of  England,  the  Duke  of  St.  Albans,  who 
enjoys  1 200/.  a  year  from  the  State.  Nelly,  however,  has  left  behind 
her  reminiscences  that  may  reconcile  us  to  the  absurd  pension  of  her 
descendants.  To  the  influence  of  the  poor  orange-girl  over  the  regal 
lover  we  owe  the  erection  of  Chelsea  Hospital.  Incidents  inher  strange 
life  have  inspired  many  a  dramatist — amongst  the  number,  Douglas 
Jerrold,  with  one  of  his  happiest  dramas;  and  her  biography,  con- 
tributed to  the  Gentleman  i  Magazine  by  Mr.  Peter  Cunningham,  F.S.A., 
has  been  republished.  Of  Nelly  herself  it  may  be  as  well  to  recount 
a  few  leading  particulars. 

I  Nell  Gwynn — pretty,  witty,  merry,  open  hearted  Nelly — has  much 
more  than  her  own  fiailties  to  answer  for ;  and  they  (alas,  that  we  must 
say  it !)  are  enough  in  all  conscience.  Her  very  virtues  have  proved 
mischievous,  inasmuch  as  they  have  given  occasion  to  certain  scoffers  to 
blaspheme  "  the  sun-clad  power  of  Chastity."  It  is  worth  while  to 
imagine  in  what  consists  that  strange  fascination  which,  after  the  lapse 
of  a  century  and  a  half,  still  hangs  round  the  memory  of  this  singular 
woman.  Why  is  her  name  still  familiar  and  dear  in  the  mouths  of  the 
people  ?  Why  hath  no  man  condemned  her  ?  W  hy  has  satire  spared 
her  ?  Why  is  there  in  her  remembrance  a  charm  so  far  beyond,  and  so 
diflerent  from,  mere  celebrity  ?  Other  women  have  become  famous  and 
interesting  in  spite  of  their  lapses  from  virtue,  and  some  fiom  that  cause. 
The  course  of  her  life,  which  had  begun  in  the  puddle  and  sink  of 
obscurity  and  profligacy,  as  it  flowed,  refined.  For  the  humorous  and 
scandalous  stories  of  which  she  is  the  subject,  some  excuse  may  bo 
found  in  her  plebeian  education,  and  the  coarseness  of  the  age  in  which 
she  lived :  when  ladies  of  quality  gambled  and  swore,  what  could  be  ex- 
pected from  the  orange-girl !  Her  earliest  days  were  spent  in  London,  and 
in  the  very  lowest  haunts  of  vulgar  profligacy.  While  yet  a  mere  child, 
she  was  an  attendant  in  a  tavern,  where  the  sweetness  of  her  voice  and 
net  sprightly  address  retonimendcd  her  to  notice.   She  was  afterwards. 


Nell  Giuynns  House,  and  Looking-glass. 


^:i:i 


Btill  in  extreme  youth,  a  servant  to  a  fruiterer,  and  in  this  capacity  em- 
ployed to  sell  oranges  at  the  theatres.  Here  her  beauty  and  vivacity 
attracted  the  notice  of  Lacy,  the  comedian,  her  first  lover,  who  was 
soon  rivalled  in  her  good  graces  by  Hart,  the  handsomest  man  and  most 
accomplished  actor  of  that  day. 

Nell  Gwynn  was  prepared  for  the  stage,  for  which  she  had  a  natural 
penchant;  and,  in  1667,  we  find  her  enrolled  in  the  King's  company  of 
comedians,  who  were  then  acting  under  Killigrew's  patent,  at  the  new 
theatre  in  Drury-lane.  Before  the  Restoration  no  woman  had  appeared 
on  any  English  stage,  the  female  parts  being  all  acted  by  the  men.  The 
novelty  and  attraction  of  seeing  beautiful  women  in  such  characters  as 
Desdemona,  Ophelia,  Aspasia,  &c.,  was  undoubtedly  one  cause  of  that 
mania  for  theatrical  amusements  which  was  one  of  the  characteristics 
of  the  time.  Nell  Gwynn  at  once  became  popular,  and  the  same  year 
that  she  first  appeared  on  the  stage,  she  attracted  the  notice  of  the  witty 
Lord  Buckhurst  (afterwards  the  Earl  of  Dorset),  who  took  her  from 
the  theatre,  and  allowed  her  loc/.  a  year.  This  absence,  however,  was 
not  long ;  she  returned  to  the  stage  in  1668.  The  King  openly  distin- 
guished her ;  and  after  the  first  performance  went  behind  the  scenes, 
and  took  her  away  in  his  carriage  to  sup  with  him.  Soon  after,  Lord 
Buckhurst  resigned  her  for  the  consideration  of  an  earldom  and  a  pen- 
sion. After  this  elevation  (as  the  contemporary  writers  express  it,  and 
no  doubt  very  sincerely  thought  it),  we  find  Nelly  dignified  in  the  play- 
bills with  the  title  of  "  Madam  Ellen,"  by  which  name  she  was  popu- 
larly known.  She  appeared  on  the  stage  once  or  twice  after  the  birth 
of  her  eldest  son,  but  retired  altogether  in  1671.  About  this  time  she 
was  created  one  of  the  ladies  of  the  Queen's  privy-chamber,  under 
which  title  she  was  lodged  in  Whitehall.  Madam  Ellen  lost  none  of 
her  popularity  by  her  elevation.  Nell  had  a  natural  tuni  for  goodness, 
which  survived  all  her  excesses.  She  was  wild  and  extravagant,  but 
not  rapacious  or  selfish, — frail  but  not  vicious ;  she  never  meddled  with 
politics,  nor  made  herself  the  tool  of  ambitious  courtiers.  At  the  time 
the  King's  mistresses  were  everywhere  execrated  for  their  avarice  and 
arrogance,  it  was  remarked  that  Nell  Gwynn  never  asked  anything  for 
herself,  never  gave  herself  unbecoming  airs,  as  if  she  deemed  her  un- 
nappy  situation  a  subject  of  pride :  there  is  not  a  single  instance  of  her 
using  her  influence  over  Charles  for  an  unworthy  purpose ;  but  on  the 
contrary,  the  presents  which  the  King's  love  or  bounty  lavished  upon 
her,  she  gave  and  spent  freely ;  and  misfortune,  deserved  or  undeserved 
never  approached  her  in  vain. 

After  the  Kind's  death,  Nell  Gwynn  continued  to  reside  in  Pall  mall, 


254         Nell  Gwynyts  House,  and  Looking-glass. 

where  she  lived  on  a  small  pension  and  some  presents  the  King  had 
made  her.  She  survived  him  about  seven  years,  conducting  herself  with 
the  strictest  decorum,  and  spending  her  time  in  devotion,  and  her  small 
allowance  in  acts  of  beneficence :  she  died  in  1691.  Dr.  Tenison,  then 
vicar  of  St.  Maitin's,  and  afterwards  /Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  preached 
her  funeral  sermon.  The  secret  of  Nell  Gwynn's  popularity  seems  to 
have  consisted  in  what  is  generally  called  heart,  in  a  kindness  and  can- 
dour of  disposition  which  the  errors  and  abject  miseries  of  her  youth 
could  not  harden,  nor  her  acquaintance  with  a  corrupt  court  entirely 
vitiate.  On  comparing  and  combining  the  scattered  traits  and  personal 
allusions  found  in  contemporary  writers,  it  appears  she  was  in  person 
considerably  below  the  middle  size,  but  formed  with  perfect  elegance; 
the  contour  of  her  face  was  round,  her  features  delicate,  her  eyes  bright 
and  intelligent,  and  so  small  as  to  be  almost  concealed  when  she  laughed; 
her  cheek  was  usually  dimpled  with  smiles,  and  her  countenance  radiant 
with  hilarity,  but  when  at  rest  it  was  soft  and  even  pensive  in  its  ex- 
pression ;  her  voice  was  sweet  and  well  modulated,  her  hair  glossy, 
abundant,  and  of  light  auburn ;  her  hands  were  singularly  small  and 
beautiful,  and  her  pretty  foot  so  very  diminutive,  as  to  afford  occasion 
for  mirth  as  well  as  admiration. — Condensed  from  Mrs.  famesons 
Beauties  of  the  Court  of  Charles  the  Second. 

There  is  in  existence  a  looking-glass  which  beare  the  likeness  of  Nell 
Gwynn  and  King  Charles,  modelled  in  wax;  and  also  the  supporters 
or  crest  which  Nell  .issumed,  namely,  the  lion  and  leopard.  The  whole 
is  curiously  worked  in  variously  coloured  glass  beads,  and  the  figures 
with  the  dresses  made  to  project  in  very  high  relief;  indeed,  they  are 
merely  attached  to  the  ground-work.  In  the  upper  part  is  Charles 
in  his  state  dress,  and  in  the  bottom  one  Nell  Gwynn  in  her  court 
dress — the  pattern  of  which  is  very  tasteful.  On  the  right  is  Charles 
in  his  hunting  dress,  and  on  the  left  is  Nell  in  her  neg/igte  dress.  The 
beads  have  retained  their  colours,  which  are  very  appropriate  to  the  sub- 
ject, and  must  have  been  a  work  of  considerable  time  and  patience ; 
but  whether  done  by  Nell  or  not,  there  is  no  record.  To  this  relic 
Laman  Blanchard  addressed  these  graceful  stan/as: 

"  Glass  antique,  "twixt  thre  and  Nell 
Dr.iw  \vc  here  a  parallel, 
hlic,  like  thee,  ww  forced  to  bear 
All  refltxtions,  foul  or  fair  ; 

Thou  art  deep  and  briRht  within, 

Depths  xs  bright  b«!lonK<"'I  to  Gwynn; 

Thou  art  very  frail  as  well, 

Frail  as  ficbh  is— so  wub  NelL 


Nell  Gwynn's  House,  and  Looking-glass.  255 


"  Thou,  her  glass,  art  silver-lined. 
She  too  had  a  silver  mind  ; 
Thine  is  fresh  to  this  far  day, 
Hers  till  death  ne'er  wore  away  ; 
Thou  dost  to  thy  surface  win 
Wandering  glances,  so  did  Gwynn  ; 
Eyes  on  thee  long  love  to  dwell. 
So  men's  eyes  would  do  on  Nell. 

"  Life-like  forms  in  thee  are  sought, 
Such  the  forms  the  actress  wrought ; 
Truth  unfailing  rests  in  you, 
Nell,  whate'er  she  was,  was  true  ; 
Clear  as  virtue,  dull  as  sin. 
Thou  art  oft,  as  oft  was  Gwynn  ; 
Breathe  on  thee,  and  drops  will  swell- 
Bright  tears  dimmed  ths  eyes  of  Nell. 

••  Thine  s  a  irame  to  charm  the  sight, 
Framed  was  she,  ?o  give  delight. 
Waxen  forms  here  i.v'v  show 
Charles  above  and  Nell  tR,-;^-."  : 

But  between  them,  chin  witn  CTira, 
Stuart  stands  as  low  as  Gwynn, — 
Paired,  yet  parted — meant  to  tell 
Charles  was  opponte  to  Nell.* 

**  Round  the  glass  wherein  her  face 
Smiled  so  oft,  her  'arms'  we  trace; 
Thou,  her  mirror,  hast  the  pair, 
Lion  here,  and  leopard  there. 

She  had  part  in  these  ; — akin 
To  the  lion-heart  was  Gwynn  ; 
And  the  leopard's  beauty  fell, 
With  its  spots,  to  bounding  Nell. 

•*  Oft  inspected,  ne'er  seen  through, 

Thou  art  firm,  if  brittle  too; 

So  her  will,  on  good  intent, 

Might  be  broken,  never  bent. 

What  the  glass  was,  when  therein 
Beamed  the  face  of  glad  Nell  Gwynn, 
Was  that  face,  by  beauty's  spell. 
To  the  honest  soul  of  Nell !" 


♦  Charles,  in  spite  of  every  attempt  made  to  detach  him  from  her,  lowd  her 
\o  the  last,  and  his  last  thought  was  for  her — "  Let  not  poor  Nelly  starve  X" 


2^0 


New  Hall  Manor. 

This  ancient  and  historically-famous  Hall  is  situated  about  three 
miles  to  the  north  of  Chelmsford,  and  about  one  mile  from  the 
main  road.  Its  park  affords  many  glimpses  of  rich  and  picturesque 
scenery,  and  the  avenue  of  limes  by  which  it  is  approached  is  one 
of  the  finest  in  the  kingdom. 

This  noble  and  extensive  lordship,  the  possession  successively  of 
knights,  dukes,  and  monarchs,  formed  in  early  times  a  part  of  the 
possessions  of  Waltham  Abbey,  but  by  whom  it  was  bequeathed  to 
that  ancient  foundation  is  not  known.  It  has  been  named  New 
Hall  to  distinguish  it  from  the  neighbouring  but  less  interesting 
manor  of  Old  Hall. 

The  independent  history  of  this  famous  house  dates  from  the 
twenty-fourth  year  of  Henry  IV.,  when  the  Convent  of  Waltham 
passed  it,  in  exchange  for  the  manors  of  Copped  Hall  and  Shingled 
Hall  in  Epping,  into  the  hands  of  Sir  John  Shardilow.  Three  years 
later  it  was  transferred  to  Sir  Henry  de  Coggeshall  and  his  brother 
Thomas.  The  latter  died  in  the  tenth  year  of  Henry  V.,  leaving 
New  Hall  to  Richard,  his  son  and  heir,  and  a  youth  of  thirteen 
years  of  age.  After  passing  into  the  possession  of  a  number  of 
different  families  New  Hall  was  forfeited  to  the  crown,  probably 
from  the  part  which  its  owners  had  taken  in  the  desperate  Wars  of 
the  Roses. 

The  estate  is  next  found  in  the  possession  of  the  noble  family  of 
Boteler,  Earl  of  Ormonde.  The  Botelcrs  or  Butlers — the  family 
name  of  the  carls  of  Ormonde — were  faithful  adherents  of  the 
House  of  Lancaster.  James  Boteler,  Earl  of  Wiltshire,  who  at  his 
father's  death  inherited  the  earldom  of  Ormonde,  was  an  earnest 
and  able  partizan  of  Henry  VI.  He  fought  by  the  King's  side  at 
the  battle  of  St.  Alban's,  and  also  maintained  his  cause  on  the  fields 
of  Wakefield,  Mortimer's  Cross,  and  Towton.  But  at  the  last  en- 
gagement his  career  of  loyalty  and  service  was  brought  to  a  close. 
He  was  taken  prisoner,  and  was  beheaded  in  1461,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  IV.  But  with  the  return  of  the  House  of  Lancaster  to  the 
throne  of  England  fortune  smiled  once  more  upon  the  Botelers. 
Thomas,  the  third  brother  of  the  carl  who  had  suffered  death  on 
the  block,  lived  long  enough  to  see  a  Lancastrian,  in  the  person  of 
Henry  VII.,  again  King  of  I'.ngland,  and  to  receive  the  manor  of 
New  Hall  as  some  reward  for  the  labours  and  the  sufferings  of  his 


Neiv  Hall  Manor.  257 

family  in  the  cause  of  the  Red  Rose.  A  further  token  of  royal 
favour  was  granted  to  the  new  proprietor  when  the  King  signified 
his  complete  reliance  upon  the  fidelity  of  Boteler  by  according  him 
liberty  to  strengthen  and  fortify  the  manor  by  building  walls  and 
towers  upon  it. 

It  is  very  probable  that  when  Thomas,  Earl  of  Ormonde, 
obtained  licence  thus  to  convert  his  manor  into  a  castle  or  fortress, 
he  seized  the  opportunity  to  entirely  rebuild,  or  at  least  to  com- 
pletely repair  it.  But  for  all  his  labours  he  had  not  the  satisfaction  of 
knowing  that  the  old  manorial  seat  would  be  in  future  maintained  in 
connexion  with  the  name  of  Ormonde.  He  had  no  heirs  male,  and  of 
his  two  daughters,  one,  named  Margaret,  was  married  to  Sir  William 
Boleyn,  the  son  and  heir  of  that  Sir  Geoffrey  Boleyn  "  who  was 
citizen  and  mercer  of  London,  and  Lord  Mayor  of  that  city  in 
1458."  The  issue  of  this  marriage  between  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Thomas,  Earl  of  Ormonde,  and  Sir  William  Boleyn  was  Thomas 
Boleyn,  who,  possessing  a  beautiful  daughter  upon  whom  the  reign- 
ing king,  Henry  VIII.,  was  desirous  of  showering  his  attentions,  and 
whom  he  soon  afterwards  married,  was  rapidly  advanced  from  that 
middle-class  station  of  life  in  which  he  had  been  bom  to  one  of  the 
first  honour  and  preferment.  The  knight  of  New  Hall  was  created 
Viscount  Rochfort  in  1525,  and  was  soon  afterwards  made  Knight 
of  the  Garter.  In  1529  he  was  created  Earl  of  Wiltshire  and 
Ormonde,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was  appointed  Lord  Privy 
Seal. 

Meantime  not  only  had  King  Henry  VIII.  obtained  the  Earl  of 
Ormonde's  daughter  in  marriage,  but  he  had  also  acquired  the 
estate  of  the  family  by  exchange.  So  highly  pleased  was  Henry 
with  the  position  of  his  new  estate  that  he  named  it  Beaulieu  (or 
Beautiful  Place) — a  name  which,  as  may  be  imagined  from  its 
artificial  and  un-English  form,  never  became  popular  among  the 
common  people.  He  also  adorned  and  improved  the  place  with 
all  the  taste  for  lordly  luxury  for  which  he  was  famous,  erected  it 
into  an  honour,  and  included  it  in  the  list  of  his  royal  residences. 
Here  the  King  kept  the  royal  feast  of  St.  George  in  1524,  and  here 
his  daughter,  the  Princess  Mary,  resided  for  several  years. 

New  Hall  continued  in  the  possession  of  the  C.own  till  1573, 
when  Queen  Elizabeth  granted  it,  together  v/ith  all  the  manors  of 
Boreham,  Walkfare,  Old  Hall,  and  their  dependencies,  commonly 
called  the  "  honour "  of  Beaulieu,  to  Thomas  Radcliffe,  Earl  of 
Sussex,     The  grant  may  be  considered  a  most  munificent  one, 

S 


258  New  Hall  Manor. 

coming  us  it  did  from  a  princess  usually  sparing  of  her  favours  when 
these  favours  affected  her  purse  ;  but  the  services  of  Sir  Thomas  in 
Scotland  and  in  Ireland  had  been  so  important  to  his  Queen  and 
his  country  that  Elizabeth  felt  constrained  by  the  exceptional  circum- 
stances of  the  case  to  be  unusually  generous.  The  career  of  this 
I'ortunate  Earl,  who  had  on  several  occasions  filled  the  offices  of 
Lord  Deputy  and  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  was  brought  to  a  close  in 
1583.  He  died  without  issue,  and  his  estates  passing  into  the  hands 
of  his  nearest  of  kin,  the  lordship  of  New  Hall  was  sold  to  George 
Villiers,  the  famous,  if  not  notorious,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  the 
favourite  of  James  I,  of  England,  for  the  sum  of  30,000/. 

Among  all  the  illustrious  and  noble  proprietors  who  had  in  turn 
become  masters  of  New  Hall  few  won  the  attention  of  their  con- 
temporaries more  completely,  or  have  more  thoroughly  awakened 
the  interest  of  posterity,  than  George  Villiers,  first  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham. So  singularly  rapid  were  the  steps  by  which  he  rose  in 
eighteen  months  from  the  rank  of  a  humble  gentleman  to  that  of 
the  first  courtier  in  England  and  the  most  potent  adviser  of  the 
King,  and  so  dark  are  the  colours  in  which  his  tragic  death  has  been 
painted — a  death  foretold,  as  we  are  asked  on  the  authority  of 
family  legend  to  believe,  by  a  supernatural  visitant — that  a  few  of 
those  incidents  in  the  life  of  this  remarkable  character  which  his- 
torians have  not  yet  seen  fit  to  select  from  the  annals  of  conspicuous 
families,  but  which  have  nevertheless  been  established  on  the  best 
authority,  may  here  be  given. 

The  Villiers  family  had  long  been  a  noteworthy  one  before  George 
Villiers  saw  the  light  Beauty  was  their  inheritance;  and  they  were 
further  distinguished  by  a  grace  of  manner,  an  affability  of  address, 
and  a  gaiety  and  liveliness  of  wit,  which  rendered  the  spell  of  per- 
sonal charms  irresistible  everywhere.  It  was  in  the  old  family  hall 
of  the  village  of  Brooksby  that  George — the  second  son  of  Sir  George 
Villiers  and  that  extraordinary  lady  whom  personal  or  mental 
attractions  enabled  to  rise  from  the  rank  of  a  serving-maid  to 
be  Lady  Villiers  and  Lady  Compton  by  marriage  and  Countess  of 
Buckingham  by  creation — was  born.  The  early  youth  of  the  lad, 
who  was  destined  soon  to  distinguish  himself  as  the  most  ardent 
and  successful  votary  of  gaiety  and  pleasure,  was  spent  amid  rural 
quiet,  the  sluggish  pace  of  an  inactive  life,  and  the  unromantic 
associations  connected  with  life  at  a  weekly  boarding-school. 

Withdrawn  from  school  at  thirteen  years  of  age,  Villiers  remained 
for  the  following  three  years  under  his  mother's  training.    Even  at 


Nezv  Hall  Manor.  259 

this  early  age  so  handsome  was  the  youth  in  person,  and  so  bright 
ind  pleasing  in  mental  gifts,  that  his  mother  resolved  upon  sending 
dim  for  the  completion  of  his  education  to  France,  in  order  that 
the  advantages  which  had  been  so  lavishly  bestowed  upon  him  by 
nature  should  be  touched  to  their  finest  issues  by  art. 

On  his  return  from  France,  Vihiers  became  the  intimate  friend  of 
Sir  John  Graham,  a  gentleman  of  the  King's  privy  chamber.  This 
Graham  having  in  the  first  instance  rescued  Villiers  from  the  awful 
crime  of  engaging  himself  to  a  young  lady  of  good  birth,  but  almost 
as  poor  as  himself,  turned  the  face  of  his  young  proicg^  to  the 
Court.  "Look  higher,"  said  Sir  John,  "woo  fortune  at  the  Court, 
and  cease  to  think  of  a  girl  who,  though  a  very  Hebe,  has  not  por- 
tion enough  to  buy  her  own  pocket-handkerchiefs." 

Graham  followed  up  this  advice  by  introducing  Villiers  to  Court. 
The  season  for  such  an  introduction  was  most  opportune.  King 
James  was  a  man  that  could  hardly  exist  without  a  favourite,  and 
at  this  special  moment  he  had  quarrelled  with  Somerset,  the  courtier 
who  had  last  held  the  place  of  favour  in  the  royal  heart.  Being 
thus  destitute  of  an  object  on  which  to  bestow  the  honours  at  his 
disposal,  he  welcomed  the  singularly  handsome  and  captivating 
Villiers  to  his  Court  with  a  love  passing  the  love  of  women,  and 
installing  him  at  once  as  his  chief  favourite,  began  to  shower  dis- 
tinctions upon  him.  There  was  a  charm  in  the  conversational 
powers  of  Villiers,  and  a  fascination  in  his  manner  which  James 
had  never  yet  found  equalled  in  his  Scottish,  and  seldom  in  his 
English  courtiers,  and  these  exercised  such  an  effect  upon  the  "wisest 
fool  in  Christendom  "  that  he  became  completely  infatuated. 

The  King  created  Villiers  Knight  Commander  of  the  Garter^ 
Justice  in  Eyre,  Earl,  Marquis,  and,  subsequently,  without  any 
ceremony  but  the  delivery  of  the  patent,  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
Lord  High  Admiral,  Master  of  the  King's  Bench,  High  Steward  of 
"Westminster,  and  Constable  of  Windsor  Castle.  And  all  these 
honours  and  titles,  with  the  exception  of  one  (the  dukedom),  the 
King  of  England  conferred  upon  this  stranger  and  adventurer 
within  the  very  brief  period  of  eighteen  months. 

Nor  did  the  King  lavish  on  him  merely  titles  and  lucrative  af>- 
pointments ;  he  enriched  him  with  magnificent  grants  from  the 
royal  domains  ;  thus  placing  him,  not  only  among  the  highest,  but 
among  the  wealthiest  noblemen  in  the  land.  The  royal  lordship  of 
Whaddon  alone,  from  which  the  duke  derived  his  first  title,  con- 
tained four  thousand  acres,  and  a  chase  sufficient  for  a  thousand 


26o  New  Hall  Manor. 

deer.  To  gratify  his  favourite  still  more,  the  King  extended  his 
patronage  to  his  whole  family.  His  mother  was,  in  1618,  created 
Countess  of  Buckingham  ;  his  elder  brother,  John,  was  made  Baron 
Villiers  and  Viscount  Purbeck  ;  his  younger  brother,  Christopher, 
was  in  1623,  created  Earl  of  Anglesey  and  Baron  of  Daventry;  his 
half-brother,  William,  was,  in  1619,  created  a  baronet ;  and  his 
other  half-brother,  Edward,  was  knighted  in  1616,  and  in  1622  was 
appointed  President  of  Munster  in  Ireland — a  lucrative  post  of 
great  honour,  which  had  previously  always  been  held  by  a  noble- 
man. In  short,  the  duke's  influence  was  unbounded.  So  much  so, 
indeed,  that  Clarendon  asserts,  that  "  all  preferments  in  Church  and 
State  were  given  by  him  ;  all  his  kindred  and  friends  promoted  to 
the  degree  in  honour,  or  riches,  or  offices  that  he  thought  fit,  and 
all  his  enemies  and  enviers  discountenanced  as  he  appointed." 

"  To  him  the  church,  the  realm,  their  powers  consign  ; 
Through  him  the  rays  of  regal  bounty  shine  ; 
Turned  by  his  nod  the  stream  of  honour  flows ; 
His  smile  alone  security  bestows  : 
Still  to  new  heights  his  restless  wishes  tower, 
Claim  leads  to  claim,  and  power  advances  power, 
Till  conquest,  unresisted,  ceased  to  please. 
And  rights  submitted  left  him  none  to  seize." 

Having  been  thus  hoisted  by  the  credulity  and  silly  partiality  of 
a  king  into  a  position  next  the  throne  itself,  there  was  only  one 
other  favour  that  the  most  fastidious  and  exacting  courtier  could 
desire,  and  that  was  the  hand,  in  marriage,  of  the  loveliest  and  the 
wealthiest  woman  in  the  land.  This  lady  was  found  in  Catharine 
Manners.  "  the  Rose  of  the  Vale,"  the  only  daughter  of  Francis, 
Earl  of  Rutland,  and  the  wedding  was  celebrated  in  1620— the  fair 
bridegroom  being  then  in  his  twenty-eighth  year. 

But  the  wooing  which  preceded  this  marriage  seems  to  have  been 
very  singular.  It  is  described  by  Arthur  Wilson,  and  his  account 
of  it  is  appended  in  his  own  words  : — "  The  marquis  having  tempted 
her,  and  carried  her  to  his  lodgings  in  Whitehall,  kept  her  there  for 
some  time,  and  then  returned  her  to  her  father.  Upon  which  the 
stout  old  earl  sent  him  this  threatening  message — *  That  he  was  too 
much  of  a  gentleman  to  suffer  such  indignity,  and  if  he  did  not 
marry  bis  daughter  to  repair  her  honour,  no  greatness  should  pro- 
tect him  from  his  justice.'  Buckingham,  who  perhaps  made  it  his 
design  to  get  her  father's  goodwill  this  way,  she  being  the  greatest 
heir  in  the  kingdom,  had  no  reason  to  mislike  the  union,  and  there 
fore  he  quickly  salved  up  the  wound  before  it  grew  into  a  quarrel" 


New  Hall  Manor.  261 

With  that  elaborate  practical  joke  of  this  age — the  incognito  visit 
of  Prince  Charles  and  Buckingham  to  Spain,  to  escort  the  betrothed 
Infanta  home  to  England,  all  are  acquainted.  Taken  up  in  a  spirit 
of  reckless  adventure,  imprudence  and  mismanagement  were  the 
characteristics  of  the  expedition,  and  misfortune  and  disaster  were 
its  legitimate  results.  The  two  youths  with  their  escort  visited 
Paris  on  their  route  to  Madrid,  and  attending  a  Court  ball  in  the 
capital  of  France,  Prince  Charles  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
Princess  Henrietta,  whom  he  afterwards  married,  and  who  was 
then  in  the  bloom  of  youth  and  beauty.  Falling  in  love  with  this 
princess,  Prince  Charles  resolved  to  marry  her  and  give  up  the 
Infanta  of  Spain — with  such  results  as  were  to  be  full  of  conse- 
quence to  himself,  his  companion,  and  the  country. 

The  declaration  ot  King  Charles  I.  after  his  accession,  to  the 
effect  that  "  wee  have  found  him  (Buckingham)  a  faithful  servante 
to  our  deere  father  ol  blessed  memory  and  ourselves,"  is  sufficient 
testimony  that  "  Steenie,"  as  this  courtier  was  fondly  called,  enjoyed 
no  less  favour  at  the  court  of  Charles  than  he  did  at  that  of  his 
father.  But  the  very  eminence  to  which  he  had  risen,  the  splendour 
with  which  he  shone  in  that  "  fierce  light  which  beats  upon  a 
throne,"  seemed  to  be  cause  sufficient  to  rouse  the  jealousy  of  his 
rivals,  and  to  awaken  the  apprehension  of  the  people.  The  break- 
ing off  of  the  Spanish  match  led  immediately  to  a  war  with  Spain, 
and  for  this  calamity  the  nation  somewhat  unfairly  blamed  Buck- 
ingham. A  war  with  France  followed ;  and  this  misfortune,  with 
more  show  of  justice,  was  also  laid  at  Buckingham's  door.  Having 
taken  command  of  the  forces  in  this  war  with  France,  Buckingham 
showed  in  the  most  conspicuous  manner  that,  though  by  no  means 
wanting  in  personal  bravery,  he  was  utterly  destitute  of  military 
genius.  On  his  inglorious  return  from  an  expedition  to  the  French 
coast,  in  which  he  lost  the  flower  of  his  army,  plots  were  formed  to 
assassinate  him.  But  this  awful  act;  to  the  performance  of  which 
many  men  had  bound  themselves  by  solemn  oaths,  was  destined  to  , 
be  carried  out  by  a  single  individual,  who  had  never  declared  his 
intention  to  a  human  being,  nor  received  the  slightest  assistance 
from  any  of  the  swarming  enemies  of  the  Court  favourite.  A 
certain  John  Felton,  who  is  styled  gentleman,  and  who  certainly 
was  a  political  fanatic  as  well  as  a  religious  enthusiast,  conceived 
himself  selected  by  Providence  as  the  instrument  for  the  destruc- 
tion of  Buckingham, 

The  duke  was  engaged  at  Portsmouth  in  preparing  an  expedition 


262  Nrd)  Hall  Majtor. 

for  the  relief  and  revictualling  of  Rochelle,  which  the  French  had 
besieged  both  by  sea  and  land,  when,  on  the  morning  of  Saturday, 
August  23rd,  1628,  while  passing  from  the  breakfast-room  to  the 
parlour,  Felton  struck  him  on  the  left  breast  with  "  a  long  knife 
with  a  white  hafte."  The  assassin's  blade  is  said  to  have  pierced 
the  heart,  and  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  receiving  the  wound  the 
duke  expired. 

There  is  a  singular  tradition  connected  with  the  death  of  the 
duke.  About  the  time  this  event  happened,  a  dependent  of  the 
Villiers  family,  an  honest,  reputable  gentleman  of  fifty  years  of  age, 
was  engaged  as  an  officer  in  the  king's  wardrobe  in  Windsor  Castle. 
This  officer  had  in  his  youth  known  Sir  George  Villiers,  the  father 
"  Steenie,"  intimately. 

About  six  months  before  the  assassination  of  the  duke,  this  officer 
had  retired  to  rest.  He  was  in  excellent  health  at  the  time,  and 
was  indeed  specially  fortified  by  the  soundness  of  his  mind  and 
body  against  any  liability  to  visions,  delusions,  or  phantoms  of  any 
kind.  At  midnight  a  man  of  a  very  venerable  aspect  appeared  at 
»he  bedside,  drew  aside  the  curtains,  and  fixing  his  eyes  upon  the 
officer,  asked  him  if  he  knew  him. 

The  affrighted  man,  half  dead  with  fear  and  apprehension,  after 
a  moment,  recognised  in  his  midnight  visitor  the  likeness,  the  cos- 
tume, and  the  general  habit  and  bearing  of  the  Sir  George  Villiers 
whom  he  had  known  in  his  youth  ;  and,  after  having  recovered  his 
presence  of  mind,  he  expressed  himself  to  that  effect. 

"  You  are  right,"  answered  the  visitor  ;  who  then  proceeded  to 
infonn  the  officer  that  he  expected  a  service  from  him,  which  was, 
that  he  should  "  go  to  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  and  tell 
him  if  he  did  not  somewhat  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  people, 
or  at  least  to  abate  the  extreme  malice  which  they  had  against  him, 
he  would  be  suffered  to  live  but  a  short  time." 

This  message  having  been  delivered,  the  mysterious  visitor 
disappeared. 

Next  night,  in  the  same  place  and  at  the  same  time,  the  "  vene- 
rable man,"  looking  in  all  respects  the  same  as  on  the  previous 
night,  save  that  his  countenance  wore  a  somewhat  severer  aspect 
rcaj)pcarcd  at  the  bedside  of  the  officer. 

"  Have  you  done  as  I  required  you  ?"  he  asked.  Then  perceiving 
that  his  instructions  had  not  been  carried  out,  the  visitor  told  the 
officer  that  he  had  expected  more  compliance  from  him,  and  that 
nf  he  did  not  perform  his  commands,  he  should  enjoy  no  peace  o^ 


Kew  Hail  Manor.  263 

mind,  but  should  always  be  pursued  by  him.  Upon  this,  obedience 
was  promised.  Next  morning,  waking  out  of  a  good  sleep,  though 
he  was  exceedingly  perplexed  with  the  strikingly  life-like  character 
of  all  the  particulars,  the  officer  was  still  willing,  as  on  the  previous 
day,  to  consider  that  he  had  only  dreamed. 

On  the  third  night  the  same  personage  appeared  at  the  bedside. 
His  face  was  dark  with  anger  and  resentment,  and  he  bitterly 
reproached  the  officer  for  not  fulfilling  the  given  promise. 

In  the  midst  of  his  distress,  the  poor  man  so  far  recovered  his 
presence  of  mind  as  to  say  that  in  truth  he  had  been  unable  to 
carry  out  the  instructions  given  him,  chiefly  from  the  difficulty,  to  a 
man  of  humble  station,  of  obtaining  access  to  the  duke.  And  even 
if,  through  the  influence  of  some  gentleman  attending  the  great 
Villiers,  he  should  gain  admission  to  him,  he  should  never  be  able 
to  convince  him  that  he  had  been  sent  in  this  extraordinary  manner  ; 
but  that  he  should  be  thought  to  be  mad,  or  at  least  to  be  desirous 
of  working  some  evil  purpose  upon  the  duke. 

The  visitor,  threatening  as  before,  never  again  to  give  the  office^ 
rest  unless  the  mission  were  carried  out,  stated  that  access  to  hii 
son  was  always  easy  ;  and,  in  order  to  secure  credit  for  the  message 
sent,  stated  two  or  three  particulars  which  he  charged  the  officer  to 
breathe  to  no  mortal  living  but  to  the  duke  alone,  and  added  that 
he  should  no  sooner  hear  those  particulars  than  he  should  credit 
the  message  sent  to  him. 

Somewhat  confirmed  by  this  midnight  visit,  the  dependent  of  the 
house  of  Villiers  made  his  way  to  London,  where  the  Court  was  then 
held,  and  meeting  with  Sir  Ralph  Freeman,  to  whom  he  was  well 
known,  and  who  was  allied  by  marriage  to  the  duke,  he  acquainted 
him  with  his  desire  to  have  a  private  interview  with  Buckingham; 
but  while  he  explained  enough  to  make  it  clear  that  his  message 
was  a  special  and  extraordinary  one,  he  took  care  not  to  divulge 
those  particulars  which  were  intended  for  the  duke's  ear  alone.  Sir 
Ralph  promised  that  he  would  speak  to  the  duke  about  the  man, 
informing  him  of  his  honesty  and  reputation,  and  then  making 
known  the  request  for  a  private  interview. 

A  meeting  was  accordingly  arranged.  The  duke  received  the 
officer  with  his  usual  courtesy,  and  walking  aside  with  him  near 
Lambeth  Bridge,  where  it  was  appointed  a  royal  party  was  to 
assemble  for  the  hunt,  gave  him  an  audience  of  nearly  an  hour. 
During  the  conference  the  duke  was  observed  to  speak  with  much 
excitement  and  commotion,  though,  owing  to  the  distance,  no  word 


264  New  Hall  Manor. 

of  the  discourse  was  heard  by  Sir  Ralph  and  the  servants,  who  were 
there  observing  the  behaviour  of  the  two  who  were  in  conversation. 

The  officer  reported  that  when  he  mentioned  tliose  particulars 
which  were  to  gain  him  credit,  the  duke  changed  colour,  and  swore 
that  that  knowledge  could  have  been  obtained  only  through  the 
devil ;  for  that  the  facts  were  known  only  to  himself  and  to  one 
other  person,  who,  he  was  sure,  could  never  have  disclosed  them. 

The  hunt  proceeded ;  but  all  that  morning  the  duke  was  ob- 
served to  ride  in  great  abstraction.  The  excitement  of  the  chase 
was  not  sufficient  to  rouse  him  from  his  deep  thought,  nor  could 
the  merry  jests  of  his  companions  scatter  the  perverseness  that 
had  overcome  him.  Before  the  morning  was  spent,  Buckingham 
left  the  field  and  repaired  to  his  mother's  lodgings  in  Whitehall, 
where  he  remained  shut  up  with  her  for  two  or  three  hours. 
During  the  conference  loud  voices  were  heard  by  the  attendants  in 
the  next  room,  and  when  the  duke  left  the  house  his  face  was  dark 
with  trouble  and  disturbed  with  anger.  This  was  remarked  as 
strange,  for  his  countenance  was  usually  so  placid,  and  even  more 
than  mortally  composed,  that  it  had  obtained  for  him  the  name  ot 
"Steenie,'  the  form  which  the  pedantic  James  had  used  for  the 
scriptural  Stephen,  whose  face,  on  the  occasion  of  his  martyrdom, 
is  said  to  have  shone  "rtJ  the  face  of  an  an/^el."  His  mother  also, 
when  the  duke  left  her,  was  found  overwhelmed  with  an  agony  of 
grief  and  bathed  in  tears. 

Whatever  were  the  particulars  communicated  to  the  duke  in  so 
strange  a  manner — whatever  were  the  subjects  of  discussion,  or 
remonstrance,  or  reproach  which  caused  the  only  stormy  con- 
ference that  ever  took  place  between  him  and  the  mother  he  so 
deeply  revered — it  is  a  notorious  truth  that  a  few  months  after- 
wards, the  death  by  assassination,  which  had  been  foretold  by  the 
midnight  visitant  at  Windsor,  overtook  the  duke.  But  the  strangest 
part  of  the  legend  is  that  when  the  news  of  Buckingham's  murder 
was  announced  to  his  mother,  she  received  the  intelligence  with 
composure — almost  with  indifference — as  if  she  had  been  already 
aware  of  it,  and  had  long  foreseen  it  ;  or,  to  use  the  words  of  the 
old  chronicler,  "  the  countess  seemed  to  be  so  forewarned  of  the 
misliap  that  she  was  nothing  troubled  or  amazed  at  the  act  that  all 
Christendom  wondered  at" 

George  Villicrs,  son  of  the  murdered  duke  and  heir  to  his  title 
and  estates,  became  master  of  New  Hall  in  1628  ;  but  uniting  with 
the  Earl  of  Holland  and  others  to  rise  on  behalf  of  Charlr:s  I. 


New  Hall  Manor.  265 

against  the  Parliament,  he  shared  some  of  the  misfortunes  of  his 
royal  master.  After  the  defeat  of  the  Royalists  at  Kingston-upon- 
Thames,  Parliament  resolved  to  proceed  against  the  duke  and  to 
sequester  his  estates.  This  line  of  conduct  was  pursued,  New  Hall 
was  sold,  and  we  find  that  its  next  possessor  was  no  less  a  per- 
sonage than  Oliver  Cromwell  himself,  the  Lord  Protector  of 
England. 

But  Cromwell  does  not  appear  to  have  identified  himself  in  any 
special  way  with  this  ancient  manor ;  indeed  two  years  after  he 
purchased  it  he  exchanged  it  (paying  the  difference  in  value)  for 
Hampton  Court,  the  situation  of  which  he  found  more  to  his  liking. 

After  the  Restoration,  New  Hall  reverted  to  the  successor  of  the 
first  Duke  of  Buckingham. 

But,  as  if  the  destiny  of  this  noble  lordship  was  to  ally  itself 
always  with  the  history  of  the  country,  we  next  find  it  in  the  hands 
of  General  Monk,  who  brought  about  the  Restoration,  and  who  was 
created  Duke  of  Albemarle  for  that  service.  At  New  Hall  the 
duke  lived  in  great  pomp  and  splendour;  at  such  an  extravagance 
of  expense,  indeed,  as  materially  to  impoverish  the  estate.  The 
manor  passed  to  the  second  duke ;  but  he  dying,  and  his  widow 
afterwards  marrying  the  Duke  of  Montague,  another  name  illus- 
trious in  the  history  of  England  comes  to  be  connected  with  this 
ancient  Hall.  Sir  Richard  Hoare,  banker  and  Lord  Mayor  of 
London,  was  the  next  owner;  but  in  1737  he  sold  the  property 
to  John  Olmins,  afterwards  Baron  of  Waltham,  who  demolished  a 
great  part  of  the  old  building,  reserving,  however,  a  portion  suffi- 
cient to  form  a  noble  and  commodious  country-seat. 

New  Hall,  as  it  appears  at  the  present  day,  is  a  red  brick  build- 
ing of  the  Tudor  style,  with  bay  windows  and  pillared  chimneys. 
For  some  years  it  has  been  used  as  a  Roman  Catholic  nunnery. 
It  was  first  occupied  by  nuns  driven  from  Liege  during  the  French 
Revolution.  Here  a  large  number  of  young  ladies  belonging  to  the 
chief  Roman  Catholic  families  of  England  and  Ireland  are  now 
educated. 


aocf 


SURREY. 

Guildford  Castle. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  first  mention  of  a  Castle  at  Guildford, 
in  SuiTey,  in  our  historical  records,  is  of  the  time  of  King  John ;  although 
the  masonry  of  the  Keep,  which  is  the  principal  part  now  remaining,  ap« 
pears  to  indicate  a.  far  more  remote  origin  than  the  era  of  that  reign. 
From  this  evidence  it  has  been  inferred  that  "  this  was  one  of  the  iden- 
tical Palaces  and  Castles  of  the  earliest  Saxon  Kings;"  and  that 
"  Alfred  the  Great  sometimes  dwelt  here."  Again,  the  statement  that 
Prince  Alfred,  after  his  courteous  reception  at  Guildown  by  Earl  God- 
win, was  conducted  to  Guildford  Castle,  under  pretence  of  refreshment, 
prior  to  his  seizure,*  is  apparently  as  erroneous  as  the  above  deductions 
from  some  features  of  the  architecture  of  the  fortress  ;  for  neither  of 
our  ancient  chroniclers  makes  any  mention  of  a  Castle  in  Guildford  in 
their  accounts  of  the  above  transaction  ;  nor  is  it  mentioned  in  Domes- 
day record,  so  that  we  may  reasonably  conclude  that  the  Castle  had  not 
been  erected  at  the  time  of  the  survey. 

There  can  be  little  doubt,  however,  that  from  the  Castle  assimi- 
lating with  most  of  the  Norman  fortresses  in  this  country,  it  was  built 
either  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century  or  soon  afterwards.  It  is  first 
mentioned  in  history  under  the  year  1216;  when,  as  Matthew  Puis 
states,  Guildford  Castle  was  taken  by  Prince  Louis  of  France,  who  had 
invaded  England  on  the  invitation  of  the  Barons  in  arms  against  King 
John.  In  the  Annah  of  Waverlej  it  is  stated  that  the  Prince  having 
landed  at  Sandwich  on  the  3i8t  of  May,  in  the  above  year,  possessed 
himself  of  this  fortress  on  the  lyth  of  June  following. 

In  the  fifty-first  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  the  custody  of  this 
fortress  was  entrusted  to  William  de  Aguillon,  then  Sheriff  of  Surrey ; 


•  Guildford  is  mentioned  first  in  the  will  of  Alfred  the  Great,  by  whom,  as 
bcinR  a.  royal  demesne,  it  was  bcfinenilied  to  his  nephew,  ICthelwalil,  on  whose 
fpljellion  or  death,  a  tew  years  after,  it  reverted  to  the  Crown.  It  was  here 
that  Alfred,  the  son  of  Ethelrcd  U.,  was  treacherously  seized  in  the  reign  of 
Harold  I.  (A.u.  1066),  and  bcrc  his  Norman  attendants  were  massacred  to  the 
number  of  nearly  600. 


Guildford  Castle.  267 

probably  in  order  that  it  might  be  used  as  a  prison.  In  the  second  year 
of  Edward  I.,  an  inquiry  was  made  into  the  encroachments  upon  the 
fosse  of  the  Castle;  and  in  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  same  reign,  the 
issues  and  profits  of  the  fortress,  with  those  of  the  town  and  part  ot 
Guildford  (being  then  of  the  annual  value  of  13/.  6s.  Sd.),  were  assigned 
to  Margaret  of  France,  second  wife  of  King  Edward,  as  part  of  her 
dowry.  At  or  about  this  period  the  fortress  became  the  common  gaol 
of  the  county  ;  for  Henry  de  Sey,  keeper  of  the  King's  prisoners  here, 
petitioned  for  a  gaol  delivery,  or  that  the  prisoners  might  be  transferred 
to  more  secure  custody,  the  Castle  not  being  strong  enough.  In  answer 
to  which  the  keeper  was  informed  that  he  might  strengthen  or  enlarge 
the  Castle  ;  but  he  must,  at  all  events,  keep  the  prisoners  securely,  as 
the  King  did  not  see  fit  to  provide  any  other  place  for  their  detention. 
Probably  this  was  a  feint  of  the  keeper ;  for  in  the  fifteenth  of  Edward 
II.,  during  the  insuirection  of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster  and  others,  a  writ 
was  addressed  to  Oliver  de  Bourdeaux,  the  Constable  of  the  Castle,  di- 
recting him  to  furnish  it  with  provisions  and  other  requisites  for  the 
King's  service,  the  costs  of  which  were  to  be  allowed  in  the  account  of 
the  Sheriff.  In  the  41st  year  of  Edward  III.  the  custody  of  this 
fortress  was  given  to  the  Sheriff  of  Surrey  and  Sussex  for  a  common 
gaol,  and  also  for  his  own  residence.  In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
Richard  II.,  Sir  Simon  Burley,  K.G.,  who  had  been  tutor  to  that 
Prince,  held  the  office  of  Constable  here.  The  fortress  continued  to  be 
used  as  the  common  gaol  of  Surrey  and  Sussex  until  the  reign  of  Henry 
VII.,  when  the  inhabitants  of  the  latter  county  petitioned  Parliament 
that  the  gaol  of  Lewes  should  be  the  common  prison,  on  account  of 
escapes  and  rescues  being  common,  and  the  removal  was  made.  The 
Castle  was  granted  by  James  I.  to  Francis  Carter,  of  Guildford,  whose 
descendants  retained  it  until,  in  18x3,  it  was  piachased  by  Charles  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  and  was,  by  his  successor,  alienated  to  Fletcher,  Lord 
Grantley. 

Guildford  Castle  originally  consisted  of  an  inner  and  outer  ballium, 
occupying  between  four  and  five  acres  of  ground,  on  the  south  side  nf 
the  town,  on  the  acclivity  of  a  considerable  height,  and  in  former  ages 
a  station  of  importance,  as  it  fully  commanded  the  ancient  ford  of  the 
river  Wey.  The  outer  walls  of  the  Castle  may  yet  be  traced;  the 
Keep  still  remains,  but  in  much  dilapidation.  Its  form  is  quadrangular 
height  about  70  feet,  lower  walls  10  feet  thick;  the  exterior  casing 
of  chalk,  flint,  sandstone,  and  ragstone,  the  middle  filled  with  coarse 
rubble  and  strong  cement.  The  courses  of  hemng-bone  work 
are  striking.    The  Tower  h  of  three  stories,  and  probably  a  vault 


2C8  Waverley  Abbey. 

or  dungeon  in  the  basement  below  the  ground ;  the  floor  and  the  roof 
have  long  been  destroyed.  The  Norman  arches  and  columns  of  the 
interior  are  very  characteristic.  There  are  galleries  in  the  thickness  of 
the  walls,  as  at  Rochester,  for  the  more  speedy  conveyance  of  orders 
in  the  case  of  a  siege.  On  the  south  side  is  a  mock  entrance,  or  sally- 
port, to  mislead  the  besiegers,  with  machicolations  over  it,  as  if  to 
defend  it  from  attacks.  Over  the  door  of  the  dungeon  are  two  over- 
hanging machicolations  designed  to  guard  it,  either  by  means  of  stones 
cast  down  or  molten  lead,  arrows,  or  lances,  should  any  escape  from 
the  dungeon,  or  any  attack  on  its  door  be  attempted.  On  the  wall 
of  a  room  in  the  second  story  of  the  Castle  are  several  rude  figures  cut 
in  the  chalk,  as  St.  Christopher,  with  the  infant  Jesus ;  a  Bishop  with 
his  mitre,  and  over  him  an  antique  crown;  the  Crucifixion; 
a  square  pillar,  the  capital  with  Saxon  ornaments.  Tradition  makes 
these  figures  the  work  of  some  captive.  Here  are  the  remains  of  the 
ancient  gate  of  the  fortress,  which  was  defended  by  a  portcullis,  as 
appears  by  the  grooves. 

In  the  chalky  ridge  on  which  the  Castle  stands  there  is  a  series  ot 
caverns  or  excavations,  which  have  been  vaguely  supposed  to  have  had 
a  communication  with  this  fortress.  In  1869  this  notion  was  revived, 
with  traditional  tales  of  horrible  cruelties  practised  in  the  so-called 
dungeons,  suspected  to  communicate  with  the  Castle,  where  six 
chambers  were  discovered  in  the  chalk,  at  about  220  yards  from  the 
fortress,  in  a  direct  line  with  the  arch  of  a  passage  communicating  with 
a  vaulted  chamber  75  feet  long,  60  wide,  and  15  in  height,  at  about 
100  feet  deep  from  the  surface.  On  the  walls  are  inscribed  many 
ancient  dates ;  curious  bottles,  shoe-buckles,  and  pieces  of  old  iron 
have  been  discovered ;  but  the  connexion  of  these  excavations  with 
the  Castle  has  not  been  traced. 


Waverley  Abbey. 

About  two  miles  south-east  of  Farnham,  on  the  borders  of  Moor 
Park,  are  the  remains  of  the  celebrated  Waverley  Abbey,  still  interest- 
ing from  the  associations  connected  with  them,  although  the  fragments 
which  that  *'  very  valiant  trencherman  Time  "  is  wont,  as  old  Fuller 
tells  U8,  to  leave  in  the  dish  for  manners  sake,  are  in  this  instance  but 
slender.  They  stand  on  a  broad  green  meadow,  round  which  the 
river  Wey,  overlooked  by  low  wooded  hills,  winds  on  three  sides,  thus 
completely  forming  one  of  those  valleys  which  the  ft>llovvcr8  of  the 
"divus  Bernardus  "  arc  said  to  have  preferred  to  the  rocky  heights  loved 


Waverley  Abbey,  269 

of  their  Benedictine  brothers.  Waverley  was  the  first  house  of  the 
White  Monks,  the  Cistercians,  founded  in  England,  and  was  established 
in  T128  (29th  of  Henry  I.)  by  William  Giffard,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
who  brought  twelve  monks  (the  proper  number,  with  their  Abbot,  for 
a  new  settlement, — "  for  thirteen  is  a  convent,  as  I  guess,"  says  Chaucer) 
from  the  Abbey  of  Eleemosyna,  in  Normandy,  itself  an  offshoot  from 
Citeaux.  One  after  another,  granges  and  manors  were  bestowed  on  the 
new-comers.  In  1187  the  Abbey  contained  seventy  monks,  120  "con- 
versi "  or  lay  brethren,  often  troublesome  enough,  and  kept  about  thirty 
ploughs  constantly  at  work.  But  during  the  troubles  of  John's  reign, 
who  at  no  time  hesitated  "  to  shake  the  bags  of  hoarding  abbots,"  and 
who  kept  an  especial  eye  on  the  wool-trading  Cistercians,  monks  and 
lay  brethren  were  all  dispersed,  and  Abbot  John  himself  "  fled  away 
secretly  by  night."  They  returned,  however,  as  the  times  became  more 
favourable,  and  their  buildings  increased  in  stateliness,  until  on  St. 
Thomas's  Day,  1230,  with  solemn  procession  et  magnx  devotionii 
gaudio,  they  entered  their  new  church,  which  had  been  thirty  years  in 
building,  under  the  auspices  of  their  benefactor,  Nicholas,  parson  of 
Broadwater,  in  Sussex,  who,  however,  had  not  lived  to  see  its  comple- 
tion. The  Atmales  PVaverlienses,  one  of  those  chronicles  which  were 
kept  with  more  or  less  minuteness  in  every  great  Abbey,  were  published 
by  Gale  in  the  second  volume  of  his  Hist.  Anglican^  Scriptores.  They 
begin  in  1066  (the  portion  before  the  foundation  of  Waverley  being  a 
compilation),  and  end  in  1291.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  it  was 
in  turning  over  their  pages  that  the  graceful  name  of  the  Abbey  ap- 
proved itself  to  the  ear  of  Sir  Walter  Scott.  Little  did  the  good  monk 
think,  as  he  laboriously  filled  his  sheet  of  parchment,  what  a  "  house- 
hold word  "  Waverley  was  hereafter  destined  to  become. 

Waverley,  although  the  "  mother  of  the  Cistercians "  in  Southern 
England,  where  she  colonized  numerous  Abbeys,  from  Kent  to  Devon- 
shire, was  exceeded  in  worldly  advantages  by  many  of  her  daughters. 
The  clear  income  of  the  Abbey  at  the  suppression  was  1 74/.  8j.  ^\d. 
It  was  then  granted  to  Sir  W.  Fitzwilliam,  the  King's  Treasurer,  and, 
after  passing  through  many  hands,  was  sold  in  1796  to  W.  Thomson, 
Esq.,  whose  son,  C.  E.  Poulett  Thomson,  created  Lord  Sydenham,  was 
born  here;  from  his  family  the  estate  was  purchased  by  G.  T. 
Nicholson,  Esq.  (^Murray's  Handbook  of  Surrey ;  abridged.^ 

In  the  Annales  we  find  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  assertion  of  the 
privilege  of  sanctuary  in  this  convent.  It  was  during  the  Abbacy  of 
Bishop  Giffard  that,  in  1240,  about  Easter,  a  young  man  was  received 
Snto  the  house  as  shoemaker  to  the  fraternity ;  and  in  August  following, 


2/0  Waver  ley  Abbey. 

olficers  of  justice,  with  the  King's  warrant,  were  sent  to  Waverley  tr 
■•uTCst  this  person  on  a  charge  of  murder.  Notwithstanding  the  re- 
monstrances and  threats  of  the  Religious,  they  secured  their  prisoner. 
The  monks,  astonished  at  this  violation  of  their  privileges,  and  foresee- 
ing that  if  such  proceedings  were  permitted,  there  would  be  an  end  of 
all  distinction  between  religious  and  secular  persons,  first  agreed  to 
suspend  divine  sei-vices  in  the  Abbey  until  they  obtained  satisfaction, 
and  then  despatch  their  Abbot  to  the  Pope's  legate,  then  in  England, 
with  a  representation  of  their  case.  The  legate  listened,  but  declined  to 
interfere.  The  Abbot  then  addressed  himself  to  the  King,  Henry  III., 
demanding,  in  strong  terms,  vengeance  on  his  officers  for  having  thus  in- 
sulted God  and  the  Holy  Church  ;  and  craved  the  immediate  restora- 
tion of  the  prisoner.  The  King  would,  probably',  have  complied,  but 
his  lords  and  councillors  interfered,  and  the  Abbot  only  obtained  a 
promise  that  he  should  be  heard  and  receive  satisfaction  on  his  petition, 
if  he  would  remove  the  interdict  which  he  had  laid  upon  his  convent. 
Accordingly  the  charters  and  muniments  of  the  order  having  been  ex- 
hibited before  the  King  and  Council,  and  it  appearing  that  the  precincts 
of  the  Abbey  and  the  estates  were  to  be  considered  as  sanctuaries  as 
inviolable  as  the  altars  of  churches,  the  Abbot's  petition  was  granted  in 
its  full  extent.  The  shoemaker  was  sent  back  to  the  Abbey  ;  and  the 
officers  who  had  taken  him  were  condemned  to  ask  pardon  of  God  and 
of  the  monks  at  the  gate  of  the  convent,  and  afterwards  to  be  publicly 
whipped.  This  sentence  was  duly  executed  by  the  Dean  of  the  house 
and  the  Vicar  of  Farnham.  The  offenders  were  then  fomially  absolved, 
and  due  penance  having  been  enjoined  on  them,  they  were  dismissed. 

The  situation  of  Waverley  Abbey,  on  the  bank  of  the  Wcy,  is  very 
delightful.  Aubrey  describes  the  monastic  buildings  as  they  existed 
in  1673:  a  fine  rivulet  running  under  the  house;  60  acres  within  the 
walls,  which  were  ten  feet  high ;  walls  of  a  fine  church,  and  of  the 
cloisters ;  a  handsome  chapel  (now  a  stable) ;  in  the  parlour  and 
chamber  over  it  (built  not  long  since)  are  some  roundels  of  painted 
glass — one,  St.  Michael  fighting  with  the  Devi! ;  St.  Dunstan  holding 
the  Devil  by  the  nose  with  his  pinci-rs  ;  his  retorts,  crucibles,  and 
chemical  instruments  about  him.  The  Hall  was  very  spacious  and 
noble,  with  a  row  of  pillars  in  the  middle,  and  vaultctl  overhead.  The 
remains  were  greatly  mutilated  by  Sir  Robert  Rich,  who  chiefly 
employed  the  materials  in  annexing  wings  to  Waverley  House,  of 
which  the  central  part  was  built  in  the  reign  of  George  U. 

Of  the  existing  remains,  the  most  perfect  is  a  vaulted  crypt,  which, 
iccording  to  an  old  print  of  the  ruins  (about  1736),  formed  the  under 


Moor  Park.  271 

story  of  the  dormitory.  Like  the  rest  of  the  ruins,  it  is  of  Early 
English  character.  Adjoining  is  the  east  wall  of  an  apartment  with 
three  good  lancet  windows,  perhaps  the  refectory.  Of  the  church 
nothing  is  traceable  but  portions  of  the  walls,  and  those  but  in- 
distinctly. Oaks,  thorns,  and  ivy  overshadow  and  mingle  with  the 
ruins,  which  are  so  close  to  the  river  that  we  cannot  wonder  to  find 
the  annalist  complaining  of  disastrous  inundations  and  floods  sweeping 
from  time  to  time  through  the  buildings,  to  the  infinite  loss  and  terror 
of  the  brethren.  Traditions  of  concealed  wealth  linger  about  the  ruins. 
Figures  of  the  twelve  Apostles  in  massive  silver  are  said  to  be  concealed 
at  Waverley,  and  have  sometimes  displayed  themselves  to  the  chance 
passenger;  but  only,  like  all  "  fairy  gold,"  to  vanish  again  instantly. 

Cobbett,  in  his  English  Gardener,  has  described  the  ancient  kitchen- 
garden  of  the  monks,  which  he  says :  "  was  the  spot  where 
I  first  began  to  learn  to  work,  or,  rather,  where  I  first  began  to  eat 
fine  fruit  in  a  garden  ;  and  though  I  have  now  seen  and  observed  upon 
as  many  fine  gardens  as  any  man  in  England,  I  have  never  seen  a 
garden  equal  to  that  of  Waverley.  Ten  families,  large  as  they  might 
be,  including  troops  of  servants  (who  are  no  churls  in  this  way),  could 
not  have  consumed  the  fruit  produced  in  that  garden.  The  peaches, 
nectarines,  apricots,  and  plums  never  failed ;  and,  if  the  workmen  had 
not  lent  a  hand,  a  fourth  part  of  the  produce  could  never  have  beai 
got  rid  of." 


Moor  Park. 

Moor  Park  and  House  lie  at  the  base  of  the  hills  which  bound  the 
heaths  towards  Farnham,  and  near  to  Waverley  Abbey.  This  house 
is  a  spacious  mansion  of  three  stories  :  and  near  its  east  end  is  the  sun- 
dial, beneath  which  was  buried  the  heart  of  Sir  William  Temple,  who 
died  here  in  1698:  his  body  was  interred  in  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  park  and  gardens  were  much  altered  early  in  the  present  century : 
the  latter  were  in  the  formal  Dutch  style,  and  were  the  great  delight  of 
William  Cobbett,  who  when  a  boy  many  a  time  walked  over  from 
Farnham  to  see  the  stately  gardens.  At  the  entrance  of  the  Park,  near 
the  Waverley  Gate,  is  a  cottage,  where  Swift  is  said  to  have  first  seen 
Stella ;  and  where,  the  people  in  the  neighbourhood  tell  you.  Swift 
used  to  sleep  when  he  resided  at  Moor  Park  with  Sir  William  Temple. 
The  age  of  the  cottage,  however,  scarcely  supports  this  fame;  and 
were  it  old  enough,  Switt  is  not  likely  to  have  slept  there. 


27^  Moor  Park. 

When  Swift  first  solicited  the  patronage  of  Sir  William  Temple,  he 
hired  Jonathan  to  read  to  him,  and  sometimes  to  be  his  amanuensis,  at 
the  rate  of  20/.  a  year  and  his  board.  At  first  he  was  neither  treated 
with  confidence  nor  affection  ;  neither  did  Sir  William  favour  him 
with  his  conversation,  nor  allow  him  to  sit  at  table  with  him.  Temple, 
an  accomplished  statesman  and  polite  scholar,  could  scarcely  tolerate 
the  irritable  habits  and  imperfect  bearing  of  the  new  inmate ;  but  Sir 
William's  prejudices  became  gradually  weaker  as  Swift's  careless  and 
idle  habits  were  abandoned ;  he  studied  eight  hours  a  day,  and  became 
useful  to  his  patron  as  his  private  secretary.  To  a  surfeit  of  stone  fruit 
(it  is  also  stated  to  have  been  twelve  Shene  pippins),  Swift  ascribed  the 
giddiness  with  which  he  was  so  severely  afflicted ;  and  it  brought  on  an 
ill  state  of  health,  for  the  removal  of  which,  after  he  had  been  about 
two  years  with  Sir  William  Temple,  he  went  to  Ireland,  but  soon  re- 
turned to  Moor  Park.  He  was  now  treated  with  greater  kindness  thaii 
before.  Temple  permitted  him  to  be  present  at  his  confidential  inter- 
views with  King  William,  who  was  a  frequent  guest  at  Moor  Park ; 
and  when  Temple  was  laid  up  with  gout,  the  duty  of  attending  the 
King  devolved  upon  Swift,  who  won  so  much  on  his  Majesty's  fiivour, 
that  he  not  only  taught  him  to  eat  asparagus  in  the  Dutch  manner 
(stalks  as  well  as  heads),  but  oflfered  to  make  him  captain  of  a  troop  of 
horse,  which  Swift,  however,  declined.  There  were  long  at  Moor  Park 
portraits  of  King  William  and  Queen  Mary,  which  were  presented  to 
Sir  William  Temple  by  the  King. 

Cobbett  had  a  great  predilection  for  Temple,  whom  he  appears  to  have 
liked  a  great  deal  better  than  Bacon  ;  he  adds  : — "  Sir  \\'illiam  Temple, 
while  he  was  a  man  of  the  soundest  judgment,  employed  in  some  of  the 
greatest  concerns  of  his  country,  so  ardently  and  yet  so  rationally  and 
unaffectedly  praises  the  pursuits  of  Gardening,  in  whicii  he  delighted 
from  his  youth  to  his  old  age ;  and  of  his  taste,  in  which  he  gave  such 
delightful  proofs  in  those  gardens  and  grounds  at  Moor  Park,  in  Surrey, 
beneath  the  turf  of  one  spot  of  which  he  caused,  by  his  will,  his  heart 
to  be  buried  ;  and  which  spot,  together  with  all  the  rest  of  the  beautiful 
drrangement,  has  been  torn  about  and  disfigured  within  the  last  fifty 
years  by  a  succession  of  wine  merchants,  spirit  merchants.  West 
Indians,  and  God  knows  what  besides;  I  like  a  great  deal  better  the 
sentiments  of  this  really  wise  and  excellent  man." 

Sir  William  Temple  had  a  canal  of  his  own  constructing  in  Moor 
Park.  On  the  outsides  of  the  grass  walks  on  the  sides  were  borders  of 
beautiful  flowers.  "  I  have  stood  for  hours,"  says  Cobbett,  "  to  look  at 
this  canal,  which  the  good-natured  manners  of  tliose  days  had  led  the 


/ 


Farnham  Castle.  273 

proprietor  to  make  an  opening  in  the  outer  wall,  in  order  that  his 
neighbours  might  enjoy  the  sight  as  well  as  himself.  I  have  stood  for 
hours,  when  a  little  boy,  looking  at  this  object ;  I  have  travelled  far 
since,  and  have  seen  a  great  deal ;  but  1  have  never  seen  anything  of 
the  gardening  kind  so  beautiful  in  the  whole  course  of  my  life." 

In  the  abrupt  sand-rock  that  bounds  the  Park  is  the  old  cavern 
/ulgarly  called  Mother  Ludlam's  Hole.  Here,  as  traditionally  stated, 
Mother  Ludlam,  a  friendly  witch,  long  took  up  her  abode.  Along  the 
bottom  of  the  cavern  flows  a  small  current  from  a  hidden  spring  ;  the 
water  is  transparent  and  pure,  and  it  was,  doubtless,  from  this  place 
that  in  ancient  times,  and  under  its  name  of  Ludeiuell,  or  Ludwell,  the 
monks  of  Waverley,  as  stated  in  the  Annales,  obtained  their  supply  of 
water  for  domestic  purposes.  Above  this  cave  is  a  deep  fox-hole  in  the 
sand  ;  within  which  a  person  named  Foote,  when  soured  by  the  world, 
sought  a  last  retreat.  He  continued  here  until  nearly  starved  to  death ; 
when,  in  the  extremity  ot  his  thirst,  he  crawled  down  to  the  rivulet  at  the 
bottom  of  the  hill,  and  was  found  upon  its  banks  in  a  dying  state.  He 
was  carried  to  the  nearest  cottage,  and  next  to  the  poor-house  of  Farn- 
ham, where  he  died,  January,  1 840 ;  his  last  words  were,  "  Do  take 
me  to  the  cave  again." 


Farnham  Castle. 

The  manor  of  Farnham  was  given  by  Ethelbald,  King  of  the  West 
Saxons,  to  the  see  of  Winchester,  to  which  it  has  ever  since  belonged. 
One  of  the  bishops,  Henry  de  Blois,  brother  to  King  Stephen,  built 
himself,  on  the  brow  of  a  hill  which  rises  rapidly  from  the  northern 
side  of  the  town  of  Farnham,  a  Castle  as  the  palatial  residence  of  the 
see,  at  the  time  when  King  Stephen  was  contending  for  the  throne 
with  the  Empress  Maud,  and  had  granted  leave  to  all  his  partisans 
" to  build  Castles."  Becoming  a  "retreat  for  rebels,"  says  Camden, 
"this  Castle  was  razed  by  Henry  HI.,  but  afterwards  rebuilt  by  the 
Bishop  of  Winchester,  to  whom  it  still  belongs."  This  allusion  to  ■ 
rebels  probably  refers  to  the  previous  seizure  of  the  Castle  by  Louis, 
the  Dauphin  of  France,  and  the  associated  Barons,  in  June,  12 16,  ^ 
during  the  contest  with  King  John.  It  had,  however,  together  with 
Guildford  and  other  Castles  of  which  Prince  Louis  had  obtained 
possession,  been  removed  in  the  following  year. 

About  the  year  1267,  there  was  a  certain  outlawed  knight  of  the 
neighbourhood  of  Winchester,  named  Adam  Gurdun,  who,  with  hif 


274  FarnJiam  Castle, 

adherents,  withdrew  to  a  woody  height  near  the  road  between  Ih^ 

town  of  Alton  and  the  Castle  of  Farnham,  and  there  "  infested  the 

country  with  rapine,"  and  especially  preying  on  the  lands  of  those  who 

adhered  to  the  King.     The  fame  of  his  strength  and  courage  reaching 

Prince  Edward,  he  was  desirous  to  make  trial  of  him ;  and  coming 

upon  the  outlaw  with  a  strong  body  of  men,  the  Prince  commanded 

that  no  one  should  interfere  to  prevent  a  single  combat.     Meeting, 

they  encountered  each  other,  and,  with  redoubled  blows  and  equal 

strength,  fought  a  long  time  without  either  giving  ground.     At  length, 

Edward,  admiring  the  valour  of  the  knight,  and  the  fierceness  with 

.  ftjC^       which  he  fought,  advised  him  to  yield,  promising  him  his  life  and 

O^^      jts^  fortune.    To  this^the  knight  agreed,  and  surrendered,  having  his  inhe- 

^^^^  ritance  restored ;  and  Edward  always  esteemed  him  a  dear  and  faithfiil 

\^i^J/^    subject. 

Scarcely  anything  of  historical  interest  is  recorded  of  Farnham 
Castle  until  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  when  it  is  several  times  men- 
tioned as  having  been  visited  by  that  Queen  in  her  summer  progresses. 
Thus,  during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Horn,  she  was  at  Farnham  in 
1567  and  1569.  On  the  latter  occasion,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  dined 
here  with  the  Queen  at  her  own  invitation,  and  on  rising  from  the 
table  she  "pleasantly'  (as  Camden  informs  us)  advised  him  to  be 
"  careful  on  what  pillow  he  laid  his  head."  This  ominous  warning  was 
spoken  in  reference  to  the  Duke's  projected  marriage  with  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots ;  but,  unfortunately,  Norfolk's  "  ill-weaved  ambition"  induced 
him  secretly  to  persist  in  his  scheme,  until  his  plans  became  treasonable; 
and  within  two  years  aftei"wards,  he  was  decapitated  on  Tower  Hill. 

Elizabeth  was  again  at  Farnham  in  September,  1 591,  when  Bishop 
Thomas  Cooper  had  the  honour  of  her  company :  at  the  time  of  the 
threatened  invasion  in  1588,  this  prelate  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Clergy 
of  Surrey  relative  to  the  raising  of  troops  for  the  defence  of  the  king- 
dom, which  possibly  may  have  been  written  at  the  Castle.  In  i6oi| 
Elizabeth  once  more  visited  the  Castle,  when  Montagu  held  the  Sec. 

In  the  Civil  War  between  King  Charles  I.  and  his  Parliament,  this 
Castle  was  garrisoned  for  the  King  by  Sir  John  Denham,  high  sheriff 
of  the  county  in  1642,  who  was  appointed  governor.  He  soon  quitted 
it,  and  shortly  afterwards  the  fortress  surrendcied  to  the  Parliamentary 
General,  Sir  William  Waller,  by  whom  it  is  saiil  to  have  been  blown 
up,  on  Decemlwr  29  in  the  same  year.  In  tlie  following  year,  however, 
it  was  again  held  as  a  stronghold,  and  its  garrison  comprised  several 
companies  of  soldiers,  which,  in  November,  1643,  joined  with  Waller'* 
Aimy  and  its  London  auxiliaries  in  the  fruitless  attack  on  Basing  House. 


Farnham  Castle.  275 

After  keeping  the  field  some  days,  Waller  tcx)k  up  his  head-quarters  at     {_  \JiAj^ 
Farnham,  and  began  to  fortify  the  town,  and  his  forces  were  twice 
drawn  up  in  Farnham  Park,  on  a  rumour  of  the  King's  approach  to         U-Jal>i 
attack  the  Castle.  They  showed  themselves,  but  made  no  assault,  though 
they  came  so  near  that  the  ordnance  fi-om  the  Castle  and  Park  killed 
about  fifteen  men  and  seventeen  horses.     Some  slight  skirmishes  fol- 
lowed ;  and  on  December  13  Sir  William  Waller  marched  with  the 
Londoners  from  Farnham  to  Alton,  and  attacking  the  Royalists  under 
Lord  Craford,  took  between  800  and  900  prisoners,  who  were  brought 
into  the  town  and  secured  in  the  Church  and  Castle.     GeorgeJWjtlier,  \  s/ 
the  poet,  was  afterwards  constituted  Governor  of  Farnham  Castle  for 
the  Parliament ;  but  his  office  was  rendered  inefficient,  and  he  had  to  ' 
leave  the  fortress  to  the  possession  of  the  enemy.   In  ^6^8  the  fortifica'^''''^ 
tions  were  demolished  by  order  of  the  then  existing  Government. 

After  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.,  the  remains  of  the  Castle,  with 
the  manor  of  Farnham,  were  restored  to  the  See  of  Winchester  ;  and 
Bishop  Morley,  who  presided  over  it  ft-om  1662  to  1684,  is  said  to  have 
expended  8000/.  in  the  renovation  and  improvement  of  the  Episcopal 
Palace  erected  within  the  precincts  of  the  fortress,  and  Including  some 
portions  of  the  original  structure.  There  were  fonnerly  two  parks* 
attached  to  the  Castle.  The  Bishops  had  here  various  officers:  as  a 
constable  of  the  fortress  ;  keepei-s  of  the  parks  and  chases  ;  and  of  the 
Frensham  ponds,  with  the  swans  in  them ;  which  offices  were  held  by 
persons  of  distinction  in  the  county. 

The  latter  years  of  Bishop  Richard  Fox,  who  had  been  long  afflicted 
with  blindness,  were  chiefly  spent  in  Farnham  Castle;  and  from  the 
initials  of  his  name,  and  other  memorials  yet  traceable  among  the  ruins 
of  the  Keep,  it  is  surmised  that  this  division  of  the  fortress  was  par- 
tially restored  or  built  during  his  retirement  here :  he  died  in  1528. 
The  lowest  and  oldest  part  of  the  Keep  is,  however,  of  an  age  long 
prior  to  the  time  of  Bishop  Fox. 

The  Castle  buildings  approach  the  quadrangular  form,  and  enclose  a 
large  court,  in  connexion  with  the  Keep.  The  outer  walls  still 
retain  some  square  bastions,  and  are  surrounded  by  a  wide  and  deep 
fosse,  in  which,  on  the  Park  side,  oak  and  beech  trees  are  flourishing 
'  The  State  apartments  are  elegantly  fitted  up,  and  there  is  a  handsome 
chapel.    The  library  is  extensive,  and  there  are  some  portraits.    The 


•  From  a  document  preserved  at  Losely,  it  appears  that  the  Templars,  in 
EHzabeth's  reign,  drank  their  ale  or  wine  out  of  grun  pots  manufactured  from 
the  clay  dug  in  Farnham  Park. 


2^6  The  Priory  of  Neivark. 

servants'  hall  formed  a  portion  of  the  original  structure,  its  round 
columns  and  pointed  arches  corresponding  with  the  age  of  the  fortress. 
The  shattered  Keep,  apparently  hexagonal  in  form,  is  entered  from  a 
high  flight  of  steps,  leading  up  an  arched  avenue  of  strong  masonry. 
The  Keep  is  entirely  unroofed,  and  the  enclosed  ground  has  long  been  a 
uit  garden.  On  the  eastem  side  of  the  great  court  was  anothei 
avenue,  leading  down  to  the  ancient  sally-port.  The  kitchen  and 
flower  gardens,  occupy  a  considerable  space.  Bishop  the  Hon.  Brownlow 
North  greatly  improved  the  Park,  through  which  the  little  river  Lodden 
flows.  Here  is  an  avenue  of  elms,  terminating  at  the  distance  of  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  in  two  noble  trees,  the  bole  of  one  being  19  feet  in 
circumference,  at  three  teet  from  the  ground;  the  other  18  feet  6  inches. 
It  is  most  important  that  the  people  of  Surrey  should  be  reminded 
that  Farnham  has  belonged  to  the  church  of  Winchester  for  more  than 
a  thousand  years.  It  is  rumoured  that,  at  the  next  vacancy  of  the  See, 
the  manor  is  to  be  sold  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners.  But  it 
will  be  a  disgrace  to  the  churchmen  of  Surrey  and  Hampshire  if  they 
allow  this  deeply  interesting  place  to  be  alienated  from  the  See,  after  a 
connexion  with  it  which  has  lasted  more  than  ten  centuries.  Such 
associations  are  far  too  precious  to  be  lightly  broken  ;  and  we  are  quite 
sure  that  if  Farnham  Castle  is  suffered  to  pass  into  other  hands,  the 
time  will  come  when  it  will  be  deeply  but  unavailingly  regretted.  The 
place  itself  is  full  of  ecclesiastical  interest,  and  is  quite  unsuitable,  as  it 
stands,  for  a  lay  occupant.  If  the  estate  and  house  are  of  necessity  to 
be  sold,  it  will  surely  be  easy  for  so  wealthy  a  diocese  to  purchase  it, 
and  to  hold  it  in  trust  for  the  use  of  the  bishop  for  the  time  being.* 


The  Priory  of  Newark. 

On  a  pleasant  site,  near  the  borders  of  the  VVey,  in  Send  parish,  a 
Priory  of  the  Canons  regular  of  the  Order  of  St.  Augustine  was 
founded  in  or  before  the  reign  of  Richard  Cocur  de  Lion,  by  Ruald  de 
Calva  and  his  wife  Beatrice  de  Sandcs.  They  gave  to  the  Canons  land 
in  Ockham,  with  its  appurtenances  of  woods,  waters,  &c.,  to  build  a 
church  to  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  and 


•  Saturday  Review,  August  94,  i86i.  Bishop  Sumner,  who  was  tianslated 
to  the  See  of  Winchester  in  1827,  rcsJKncd  in  1869  ;  but  it  has  been  arranged 
that  his  lordship  shall  continue  to  occupy  I-'arnham  Castle.  His  prelacy  ha5 
rendered  him  very  popular  among  all  classes  ;  and  the  park  forms  a  dclightfuJ 
ploccol  rcctca'.ion  for  the  inliabiiunts  of  ihu  town  and  neighbourhood. 


The  Priory  of  Netvarh  277 

endowed  it  the  Ka;ne  as  did  Godfrey  de  Lacy,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
who  died  in  1204.  In  12-20,  the  Canons  obtained  from  Henry  III.  the 
privilege  of  holding  a  fair  at  Ripley,  on  the  eve  of  the  day  of  St.  Mary 
Magdalene ;  for  which  the  Prior  gave  to  the  King  a  palfrey. 

The  remains  appear  to  have  formed  part  of  the  Priory  Church,  and 
the  adjoining  refectory ;  in  the  Early  Pointed  style,  with  lancet  win- 
dows ;  the  walls  are  roofless.  Most  of  the  Priory  buildings,  with  great 
portions  of  the  church,  were  pulled  down,  and  the  materials  used  in 
repairing  the  roads  !  In  1840,  fragments  of  a  tessellated  pavement,  with 
devices  of  animals,  flowers,  buildings,  &c.,  with  human  bones  and  an 
entire  skeleton,  were  excavated  here. 

Aubrey  relates  a  tradition  at  Ockham  Court,  told  him  by  the  clerk, 
that  his  father  remembered  to  have  gone  into  a  vault  at  Newark  Abbey, 
which  went  under  the  river  to  a  nunnery  here ;  by  which  the  poor 
deluded  people  would  insinuate  malpractices  between  the  monks  and 
nuns,  a  common  slander  thrown  upon  the  Religious  at  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  Upon  this  tale,  Dr.  Charles  Mackay  has  founded  the 
following  cleverly  humorous  ballad : — 

"  The  monks  of  the  Wey  seldom  sung  any  psalms. 
And  little  they  thought  of  religious  qualms  ; 
Ranting,  rollicking,  frolicksome,  gay. 
Jolly  old  boys  were  the  monks  of  the  Wey. 

Tralalala  !  lara  la  ! 

"  To  the  sweet  nuns  of  Ockham  devoting  their  cares, 
They  had  but  short  time  for  their  beads  and  their  prayeis ; 
For  the  love  of  the  maidens,  they  sighed  night  and  day, 
And  neglected  devotion,  these  monks  of  the  Wey. 
Trala.  &c. 

"  And  happy,  i'  faith,  might  these  monks  have  beeu, 
If  the  river  had  not  rolled  between 
Their  abbey  dark  and  their  convent  grey. 
That  stood  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Wey. 
Trala,  &c. 

"  For  daily  they  sighed  and  nightly  they  pined, 
Little  to  anchorite  rules  inclined  ; 
So  smitten  with  beauty's  charms  were  they. 
These  rollicking,  frolicksome  monks  of  the  Wey, 
Trala,  &c. 

'  But  the  scandal  was  great  in  the  county  near— 
They  dared  not  row  across  for  fear  ; 
And  they  could  not  swim,  so  fat  were  they. 
These  oily,  amorous  monks  of  the  Wey. 
Trala,  &c. 

"  Loudly  they  groaned  for  their  fate  so  hard. 
From  the  smiles  of  these  beautiful  maids  debarred, 
Till  a  brother  hit  on  a  plan  to  stay 
The  love  of  these  heart-broken  monks  of  the  Wey 
Trala.  &c 


27 ii  Reigate  Castle. 


"  '  Nothing,'  quoth  he,  'should  true  love  sunder; 
Since  we  cannot  go  over,  let  us  go  under  ; 
Boats  and  bridges  shall  yield  to-day — 
We'll  dig  a  tunnel  beneath  the  Wey. 
Trala,  &c. 

"  To  it  they  went  with  right  good  will, 
With  spade  and  shovel,  pike  and  bill ; 
And  from  evening's  close  to  the  dawn  of  day 
They  worked  like  miners  all  under  the  Wey. 

Trala.  &c. 
"  And  every  night  as  this  work  begun, 
Each  sang  of  the  charms  of  their  favourite  nun  ; 
'  How  surprised  they  will  be,  and  how  happy,'  said  they, 
'  WTien  we  pop  in  upon  them  from  under  the  Wey.' 

Trala,  &c. 

"  And  for  months  they  kept  grubbing  and  making  no  sound, 
Like  other  black  moles,  darkly  under  the  ground  ; 
And  no  one  suspected  such  going  astray, 
So  sly  were  these  amorous  monks  of  the  Wey. 
Trala,  &c. 

"  At  last,  this  fine  work  was  brought  near  to  a  close, 
And  early  one  morn  from  their  pallets  they  rose, 
And  met  in  their  tunnel  with  lights  to  survey. 
If  they'd  scooped  a  free  passage  right  under  the  Wey. 
Trala,  &c. 

•*  But,  alas  for  their  fate  !  as  they  smirked  and  they  smiled. 
To  think  how  completely  the  world  was  beguiled, 
The  river  broke  in,  and  it  grieves  me  to  say. 
It  drowned  all  the  frolicksome  monks  of  the  Wey. 
Trala.  &c. 

*•  O,  Churchmen,  beware  of  the  lures  of  the  flesli, 
The  net  of  the  devil  hath  many  a  mesh ; 
And  remember,  whenever  you're  tempted  to  stray, 
The  fate  that  befel  the  poor  monks  of  the  Wey. 
Trala,  &c." 


Reigate  Castle, 

On  the  north  side  of  the  town  of  Reigate  are  the  earthworks  of  an 
ancient  Castle,  of  the  foundation  and  history  of  which  Httle  is  posi- 
tively known.  It  is  ascribed  to  the  Earls  of  Warren  and  Surrey,  who, 
on  acquiring  estates  in  this  county,  made  Reigate  their  principal  resi- 
dence. The  ground-plot  suggests  the  idea  of  its  having  been  the  site  of 
a  Roman  fort ;  and  Brayley  considers  it  not  improbable  that,  in  later 
times,  it  may  have  l)een  one  of  a  chain  of  forts  commanding  the  vicinal 
or  cross  road  which  may  be  traced  from  Ightham,  in  Kent,  to  Farn- 
ham,  in  Surrey,  and  still  known,  in  parts,  by  the  name  of  the  Pilgrims' 
Road.    If  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  were  so  successful  in  repelling 


Reigate  Castle.  279 

the  Danish  plunderers. as  to  have  given  rise  to  the  proverbial  distich 

attributed  to  them  by  Camden — 

' '  The  vale  of  Holmesdale, 
Never  wonne,  never  shall," 

it  is  not  unlikely,  considering  the  importance  of  the  situation,  that  their 
leaders  had  a  strong  fortress  here.  Be  this  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that 
under  the  Earls  of  Warren,  Reigate  Castle  was  one  of  the  capital  seats 
of  their  barony  in  England.  It  is  supposed  to  have  been  founded  before 
the  Norman  Conquest:  others  (from  the  pointed  character  of  the 
remaining  subterraneous  vaults),  refuse  to  assign  to  it  an  earlier  date 
than  the  termination  of  the  twelfth  or  commencement  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  William,  Earl  of  Wairen,  by  whom  it  was 
held  in  the  time  of  King  John,  is  the  first  of  his  family  mentioned 
by  Diigdale  as  its  owner,  his  title  to  it  being  derived  from  his  earliest 
ancestors.  The  wavering  policy  of  this  nobleman,  in  the  contest  between 
King  John  and  his  Barons,  is  thought  to  have  occasioned  him  the 
temporary  loss  of  the  Castle ;  which  is  also  said  to  have  been  for  a  time 
(12 1 6)  in  possession  of  Louis,  Dauphin  of  France.  Jettons,  or  French 
coins  have  been  found  among  the  ruins ;  and  a  spur  of  extraordinary 
size  was,  in  1802,  found  in  the  Castle  butts,  at  the  depth  of  three  feet 
in  the  ground. 

There  is  a  tradition  current  that  the  insurgent  Barons  held  their 
councils,  previously  to  the  congress  at  Runnimede,  in  the  Castle  of 
Reigate;  and  Gough,  in  his  edition  of  Camden's  Britannia,  when 
speaking  of  a  caveni  there,  under  the  Castle  court,  says :  "  It  is  called 
the  Barons'  Cave ;  and  it  is  pretended  that  the  Barons  conferred  here 
before  they  met  King  John,  in  Runnymede."  This  is  thought  un- 
worthy of  credence;  because  William,  Earl  of  Surrey,  was  one  of  those 
lords  who  were  most  firmly  attached  to  the  King ;  and  as  he  did  not! 
join  the  Barons  till  all  resistance  to  their  claims  appeared  hopeless,  it 
cannot  be  supposed  that  his  Castle  would  be  chosen  as  the  place  for 
their  deliberation.  It  is  not  unlikely,  however,  that  the  Earl  of  Suirey 
and  a  few  other  loi'ds,  who,  like  him,  for  a  while  endeavoured  to  pre- 
serve their  neutrality  in  the  grand  contest,  may  have  held  secret  con- 
sultations in  Reigate  Castle,  and  even  in  the  cavern  to  which  the  tradi- 
tion refers  ;  and  which,  hence,  probably  obtained  the  appellation  of  the 
Barons'  Cave. 

In  1265,  John  de  Warren,  Earl  of  Surrey,  sullied  his  reputation  by 
an  act  of  violence  in  a  private  feud.  He  had  a  lawsuit  with  Alan, 
Baron  de  la  Zouche,  respecting  a  title  to  a  certain  manor.  It  was  de- 
cided against  the  Earl,  who  became  so  highly  exasperated  that  an 


28o  Reigate  Castle. 

aUercation  arising  between  him  and  nis  competitor,  from  abusive  lan- 
guage they  proceeded  to  personal  violence.  Some  of  Surrey's  domestics, 
or  retainers,  were  on  the  spot,  who  were  privately  armed ;  and  with  his 
assent,  if  not  by  his  order,  they  drew  their  swords,  and  assaulted  the 
unarmed  Baron  and  his  son,  who  was  with  him.  Thinking  their  lives 
in  danger,  they  fled  towards  the  King's  chamber  in  the  palace  of  West- 
minster ;  the  assailants  followed,  and  wounded  both  De  la  Zouche  and 
his  son ;  the  former  so  severely  that  he  never  recovered.  The  Earl, 
becoming  alarmed  for  the  consequences  of  his  violence,  and  fleeing  with 
his  servants  to  the  river-side,  where  he  had  a  boat  waiting,  they  crossed 
the  Thames,  and  took  refuge  in  the  Castle  of  Reigate.  The  King  and 
Prince  Edward,  considering  it  impossible  to  overlook  the  conduct  of 
the  Earl  (though  they  owed  him  so  many  obligations),  had  an  order 
issued  to  compel  the  appearance  of  Sun-ey  before  the  Court,  to  answer 
for  his  offence.  The  Earl  refused  obedience  to  the  mandate,  where- 
upon Prince  Edward,  accompanied  by  the  Archbishop  of  York  and 
other  persons  of  rank,  with  an  armed  force,  proceeded  to  Reigate, 
to  take  the  culprit  into  custody.  At  first  he  seemed  determined  to 
defend  the  fortress,  but  he  was  induced  to  surrender  himself.  He 
was  fined  ic.ooo  marks  to  the  King,  and  2000  marks  damages  to  the 
injured  Baron  ;  and  having  declared  that  the  offence  was  not  of  malice- 
aforethought,  but  of  sudden  anger,  on  these  terms  the  Earl  received 
pardon.  In  the  third  year  of  Edward  1.  the  Earl  of  Surrey  enter- 
tained that  sovereign  at  his  Castle  of  Reigate,  in  a  style  of  great  splen- 
dour ;  and  received  the  deduction  of  1000  marks  from  the  amount  of 
the  above  fine  then  unliquidated. 

The  Castle  was  in  a  decayed  state  in  the  reign  of  King  James,  and  in 
1648  it  was  demolished;  but  some  remains  of  the  outer  walls  were 
standing  within  the  last  half  century. 

The  site  of  the  Castle  comprises  an  eminence  of  about  fifty  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  town,  and  nearly  surrounded  by  a  dry  fosse  of  consi- 
derable breadth  and  depth ;  at  some  distance  northward  is  a  moat.  The 
area,  a  lawn  of  very  fine  turf,  is  an  oblong  with  rounded  angles,  about 
•160  paces  from  east  to  west,  and  ico  from  north  to  south.  Over  a 
bold  escarpment  at  the  east  end  it  is  entered  by  a  stone  gateway,  erected 
in  the  year  1777.  On  the  lawn  was  formerly  a  summer  apartment, 
corresponding  with  the  ancient  design  of  the  fortress.  In  the  centre  of 
the  area  is  the  entrance  to  the  caves  by  a  flight  of  steps  hewn  out  of  the 
sandstone  rock  to  the  depth  of  1 8  feet,  and  thence  by  a  regular  slope 
36  fix't  more.  The  entire  descent  of  335  feet  terminates  in  a  cavern, 
or  w.amber,  probably  a  'lungcon  for  prisoners.    A  gallery,  nearly  150 


Chert sey  A  bbey.  2  8 1 

feet  long,  with  a  semicircular  end,  has  a  seat  all  round ;  this  is  the 
Barons'  Cave,  already  mentioned.  The  pointed  roof  is  1 2  feet  in  height, 
and  springs  from  a  ledge.  An  arch,  supposed  to  have  foirned  a  private 
communication  with  the  town,  fell  in  many  years  ago.  An  apartment 
near  the  entrance  is  supposed  to  have  been  occupied  by  the  guard.  The 
vaultings  throughout  the  caverns  assume  the  figure  of  the  pointed  arch, 
hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock,  which,  however,  is  soft  and  of  fine  texture. 
William  de  Warren,  who  died  in  1240,  is  said  to  have  founded  a 
Priory  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Reigate,  dedicated  to  the  Virgin 
Mary  and  the  Holy  Cross,  and  to  have  endowed  it  for  the  support  of  a 
Prior  and  Canon  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine.  The  mansion  now 
called  Reigate  Priory,  which  occupies  part  of  the  old  site  and  precincts, 
is  the  seat  of  Earl  Somers. 


Chertsey  Abbey. 

Shortly  after  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons  to  Christianity,  a  small 
monasteiy  was  founded  at  Chertsey,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Thames, 
by  Erkenwald,  an  ecclesiastic,  afterwards  Bishop  of  London,  and 
Frithwald,  Viceroy  of  Surrey,  under  Wulpher,  King  of  Mercia,  who, 
in  confirmation  of  the  foundation  charter,  "  laid  his  hand  on  the  altar, 
and  made  the  sign  of  the  cross.''  The  charter  is  dated  727,  probably 
several  years  after  the  death  of  those  whose  deed  it  purports  to  be ;  a 
forgery  thought  to  be  to  frustrate  the  severe  inquisition  of  the  Norman 
Conqueror  and  his  agents  as  to  the  mode  of  acquisition  and  tenure  of 
monastic  estates.  Late  in  the  ninth  century,  the  Abbot  of  Chertsey, 
Beorca,  a  priest,  and  all  the  monks,  90  in  number,  were  slaughtered  ;  the 
church  and  conventual  buildings  were  burnt,  and  the  surrounding  terri- 
tory laid  waste  by  the  Danes.  The  monastery  was  not  fully  restored 
till  the  reign  of  Edgar,  who,  in  964,  expelled  the  secular  clerks,  and 
placed  Benedictine  monks  in  their  room.*  About  a  century  and  a  half 
later,  the  rebuilding  of  the  Abbey  was  commenced  ;  for  we  read  in  the 
Saxon  Chronicle,  mo,  "This  year  men  first  began  to  work  at  the  new 
monastery  of  Chertsey." 

The  body  of  Henry  VL,  who  died  in  the  Tower  of  London,  was 
buried  in  Chertsey  Abbey,  as  Grafton  asserts,  "  without  priest  or  clerk. 


•  In  the  Transactions  of  the  Surrey  Archccological  Society,  vol.  i.  pt.  i.,  is  a 
valuable  paper  by  W.  G.  R.  Corner,  F.S.A.,  "  On  the  Anglo-Saxon  Charters 
of  Fridwald,  Alfred,  and  Edward  the  Confessor,  to  Chertsey  Abbey." 


2S2  Chertsey  Abbey. 

torch  or  taper,  singing  or  saying;"  but,  in  an  Issue  Roll,  nth  Ed- 
ward IV.,  there  are  disbursements  for  wax,  linen,  spices,  &c.,  incurred 
for  Henry's  burial,  and  for  wages  and  rewards  to  the  men  carrying  the 
torches  from  the  Tower  to  St.  Paul's ;  and  from  thence,  accompanying 
the  body  to  Chertsey ;  also,  for  a  reward  to  soldiers  from  Calais,  guard- 
ing the  body,  and  for  the  hire  of  barges  with  rowers  on  the  river 
Thames  to  Chertsey ;  likewise  payments  to  Brethren  and  Friars,  and 
for  obsequies  and  masses  said  at  Chertsey  on  the  burial. 

The  Abbots  of  Chertsey  retained  an  uninterrupted  possession  of  the 
manor  from  the  time  of  the  Domesday  Survey  until  the  Dissolution  ; 
when,  in  the  deed  of  Surrender  it  is  stated  that  the  King,  for  the  honour 
of  God,  and  the  health  of  his  soul,  purposed  to  refound  the  dissolved 
Priory  of  Bisham,  in  Berkshire,  and  to  establish  there  the  Abbot  and 
Brethren  of  Chertsey,  and  endow  them  with  the  manors,  &c.,  of  Bisham, 
as  well  as  the  Chertsey  estates.  This  was  done,  but  in  less  than  a  year 
the  newly-formed  monastery  was  surrendered  to  the  Crown. 

The  superior  of  Chertsey  monastery  was  one  of  the  Mitred  Abbots, 
or  those  who  were  privileged  to  wear  episcopal  ornaments ;  and  he  was 
a  baron,  or  military  tenant  of  the  Crown,  doing  duty  by  his  knights. 
In  a  bull,  dated  1258,  there  is  reference  to  vineyards  belonging  to  the 
monks.  By  charter  the  Abbot  kept  dogs  for  hunting  hares  and  foxes. 
The  Exchequer  Leiger,  which  is  of  vellum,  is  a  general  plan  of  the 
demesne  of  the  Abbey ;  the  Leiger  itself  being  a  ponderous  volume, 
19  inches  in  length,  and  13  in  breadth.  It  exhibits  the  monastic  church, 
an  hospitium,  two  mills,  a  bridge,  and  a  few  buildings  beyond  the 
Thames,  called  the  vill  of  Laleham.  By  the  writing  it  seems  to  have 
been  depicted  about  the  reign  of  Henry  VI. ;  parts  of  the  original  are 
coloured.  The  Abbey,  though  a  large  establishment,  was  completely 
destroyed;  yet  by  whom  commenced,  or  how  carried  on,  nothing 
appears  to  be  recorded.  In  Aubrey's  time  (1673),  the  out-walls  only 
remained ;  the  street-roads  of  Chertsey  were  made  with  the  ruins.  Dr. 
Stukeley  visited  the  site  in  1 7,152;  he  writes:  "So  total  a  dissolution 
I  scarcely  ever  saw.  Of  that  noble  and  splendid  pile,  which  took  up 
four  acres  of  ground,  and  looked  like  a  town,  nothing  remains."  At  the 
entrance  of  the  kitchen-garden  stood  the  church.  "  Human  bones  of 
the  abbots,  monks,  and  great  personages,  who  were  buried  in  great 
numbers  in  the  church  and  cloisters,  were  spread  thick  all  over  the 
garden ;  so  that  one  may  pick  up  handfuls  of  bits  of  bones  at  a  time 
everywhere  among  the  garden  stuft".  Foundations  of  the  religious 
building  have  been  dug  up,  carved  stones,  hlcnder  pillars  of  Sapex 
marble,  monumental  (.tones,  cfligies,  crosses,  inscriptions,  everywhere." 


CJiertsey  Abbe}'.  2S3 

Dr.  Stukeley  mentions  the  large  orchard,  many  and  long  canals,  or  fish- 
ponds and  preserves,  and  the  great  moat  round  the  Abbey.  "  I  left  the 
ruins  of  this  place,"  he  adds,  which  had  been  consecrated  to  Religion 
ever  since  the  year  666,  "  with  a  sigh  for  the  loss  of  so  much  national 
magnificence  and  national  history.  Dreadful  was  that  storm  which 
spared  not,  at  least,  the  churches,  libraries,  painted  glass,  monuments, 
manuscripts ;  that  spared  not  a  little  out  of  the  abundant  spoil  to  sup- 
port them  for  the  public  honour  and  emolument."  Figured  tiles  bearing 
crowned  heads,  abbots  wearing  mitres,  grotesque  heads,  and  fragments 
of  tessellated  pavements  have  been  dug  up  in  the  Abbey-house  garden 
and  orchard.  The  walls  of  a  large  bam,  an  arched  gateway,  and  adjoin-' 
ing  wall,  are  nearly  all  that  remains  of  this  once  venerated  and  extensive 
foundation  of  Chertsey  Abbey. 

Almners*  Barns,  near  St.  Anne's  Hill,  formerly  belonged  to  the 
Almoners  of  Chertsey  Abbey,  and  was  for  a  long  period  occupied  by 
the  Wapshott  family,  who,  it  is  said,  "  have  continued  to  cultivate  the 
same  spot  of  earth  from  generation  to  generation  ever  since  the  reign  of 
Alfred,  by  whom  the  farm  in  which  they  have  lived  was  granted  to 
Reginald  Wapshott,  their  ancestor."  That  the  Wapshotts  were  resi- 
dents here  some  centuries  ago  is  traditionally  acknowledged;  and  a 
deed  proves  their  occupation  of  Almners'  Bams  upwards  of  five  hundred 
years  since.  Yet  these  worthy  tenants  were  expelled  the  farm  by  the 
Duke  of  York  exorbitantly  increasing  the  rent  —  an  act  of  much 
injustice. 

In  the  old  church  of  Chertsey  the  Curfew  is  still  regularly  tolled 
every  evening  in  the  winter  months  upon  the  Abbey  bell,  which  bears 
a  motto  in  Saxon  characters.  The  late  Albert  Smith,  who  was  a  native 
of  Chertsey,  at  his  outset  in  literary  life,  wrote  a  pleasing  drama,  the 
action  of  which  was  laid  in  the  town  of  Chertsey  and  its  neighbour- 
hood ;  and  the  climax  of  the  piece  is  brought  about  by  the  agency  of 
the  bell.  The  performance  proved  very  popular.  In  the  opening  chapter 
of  the  story,  the  bell  is  referred  to  as  one  of  the  few  records  extant  of  the 
noble  monastery.  "  Its  motto  and  quaint  Saxon  letters  prove  its  anti- 
quity. It  probably  swung,  and  clanged,  and  echoed  from  the  turrets 
of  the  monastery  centuries  before  the  honest  Abbot  Rutherwick's  time 
—  it  might  have  assisted  to  chime  for  his  birth,  and  it  ushered  him  to 
the  grave  in  company  with  the  other  prelates  who  went  before  or  suc- 
ceeded him.  The  kingdom  changed  its  rulers ;  usurpers  rose  and  fell ; 
war  followed  inaction,  and  peace  transplants  war ;  yet  still  the  old  bell 
kept  on  its  unchanging  song,  and  rang  for  the  conqueror  as  bravely  and 
lustily  as  it  had  beiore  welcomed  the  vanquished.  The  morning  sounds 


284  Merton  Priory. 

roused  the  hind  from  slumber  to  his  daily  toils  ;  and  at  evening  it  pealed 
out  the  sol  ;mn  curfew,  which  carried  its  voice  of  rest  far  over  the  broad 
expanse  of  wooded  hill  and  rich  pasture  that  then  surrounded  the 
monastery."    There  is  homely  pathos  in  tuis  passage. 


Merton  Priory. 

In  the  village  of  Merton,  seated  on  the  river  Wandle,  a  Priory 
was  erected  of  timber  by  Gilbert  Norman.  This  was  in  1115;  but 
about  two  years  aftenvards  the  founder  was  induced  by  its  Prior, 
Bayle,  to  remove  the  establishment  to  another  site,  and  when  the  new 
house  was  finished,  the  Prior  and  his  brethren  (fifteen  in  number)  went 
thither  in  procession,  singing  "  Sal-ve  dies"  In  1 121,  in  consideration  of 
one  hundred  pounds  in  silver,  and  six  marks  of  gold,  given  by  Gilbert 
Norman,  the  King  granted  the  entire  manor  of  Meretotie,  with  all  its 
customs  and  privileges,  to  the  canons  here,  to  enable  them  to  construct 
a  church  in  honour  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  &c.  About  1130,  the  Priory 
was  first  built  of  stone,  the  foundation  being  laid  with  great  solemnity 
by  Gilbert  himself,  the  Prior,  and  36  brethren :  the  buildings  were 
completed  in  11 36. 

When  Hubert  de  Burgh,  the  principal  minister  of  Henry  III.,  lost 
the  favour  of  his  weak  and  prodigal  master,  and  had  been  accused  of 
high  crimes  and  misdemeanours,  he  fled  for  sanctuary  to  Merton 
Abbey;  and  having  refused  to  quit  his  place  of  refuge,  the  church, 
after  being  ordered  to  attend  at  a  great  council  or  parliament  held  at 
Lambeth,  the  King  sent  letters  to  the  Mayor  of  London,  commanding 
him  to  proceed  to  Merton,  with  the  armed  citizens,  and  bring  Hubert 
before  him  either  alive  or  dead  ;  but  Henry  i-ecalled  the  mandate,  and 
n  the  sequel  restored  him  to  favour.  Eventually,  however,  he  was  de- 
prived of  a  considerable  portion  of  his  accumulated  wealth,  and  passed 
the  concluding  years  of  his  life  at  his  manor  of  Hanstead,  in  Surrey. 

\bout  four  years  after,  in  1236,  a  Parliament  or  National  Council 
was  held  at  Merton  Abbey,  when  the  famous  "  Statutes  of  Merton  " 
(the  most  ancient  body  of  laws  after  Magna  Charta)  were  enacted ;  and 
the  Prelacy  having  proposed  to  introduce  the  c  mon  law,  to  supersede 
the  common  law  of  the  realm,  the  Barons  made  the  memorable  reply, 
••  Nolumuj  leget  AtigUa  mutare," — "  We  will  not  alter  the  laws  of 
England." 

The  chronicles  of  Merton  Abbey,  which  are  in  the  Bodleian  Library, 
at  Oxford,  ci^^iin  the  Ordination  of  W  illiam  of  Wykeham,  fur  the 


Merton  Priory.  285 

government  of  this  convent.  One  of  the  statutes  prohibits  the  canons 
from  hunting,  or  keeping  dogs  for  that  sport,  within  the  walls  of  the 
Priory,  "  on  pain  of  being  restricted  to  a  diet  of  bread  and  ale,  during 
six  holidays."  The  punishments  are,  in  general,  of  a  similar  descrip- 
tion ;  the  severest  being  a  compulsory  abstinence  from  all  food  but 
bread  and  water ;  and  the  slightest,  confinement  to  an  allowance  of 
bread,  ale,  and  pulse.  In  a  visitation  of  the  Priory  by  Henry  de  Wood- 
lock,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  the  canons  are  censured  for  not  attending 
mass,  and  for  going  about  with  bows  and  arrows;  and  they  are 
menaced  with  punishment  by  restriction  of  food. 

Charters  of  new  donations,  confirmations  of  grants  of  lands  and 
privileges,  were  obtained  by  the  canons  of  Merton  from  eleven  sove- 
reigns; the  Prior  sat  in  Parliament  as  a  mitred  Abbot.  Thomas 
a  Becket,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was  educated  in  the  Priory  school ; 
as  was  also  Walter  de  Merton,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  and  Chancellor  of 
England,  the  illustrious  founder  of  Merton  College,  Oxford,  who  was 
born  in  this  village,  and,  dying  in  1277,  was  buried  in  Rochester 
Cathedral. 

During  the  Civil  Wars,  the  Priory  was  used  as  a  garrison  ;  for  the 
Derby  House  Committee,  in  July,  1648,  were  ordered  by  Parliament, 
"  to  make  Farnham  Castle  indefensible,  and  to  secure  Merton  Abbey, 
and  other  places  of  strength  in  the  same  county."  Part  of  the  outer 
walls,  and  the  east  window  of  the  Abbey  chapel  remain ;  and  several  of 
its  stalls  are  preserved  in  Beddington  Church.* 


•  Merton  became  the  residence  of  Lord  Nelson,  in  compliance  with  whose 
wishes  a  small  estate  here  was  purchased  by  Lady  Hamilton,  in  1801,  about 
which  time  the  hero  contemplated  a  final  retirement  from  command.  Nelson 
lived  here  from  October,  i8or,  until  May,  1803,  when  he  quitted  it  to  resume 
his  command  in  the  Mediterranean  :  prior  to  which  he  devised  his  capital 
messuage  at  Merton,  with  its  gardens,  pleasure-grounds,  shrubbery,  canal, 
mote,  &c.,  to  Lady  Hamilton,  who  was  then  a  widow.  After  the  .\dmiral  fell  at 
Trafalgar,  in  1805,  Lady  Hamilton  continued  to  reside  here,  with  Nelson's 
daughter,  Horatia,  until  about  1808,  when  she  was  compelled  by  her  necessities 
to  dispose  of  the  estate  ;  subsequently  the  house  was  pulled  down,  and  the  site 
was  bail '.  upon. 


286 


KENT. 

Rochester  Castle. 

Rochester,  which  took  its  name  after  one  "  Hroffe,"  a  Saxon,  who 
built  his  "  ceaster,"  or  city,  here,  abolishing  in  the  process  the  more 
expressive  and  appropriate  British  name  of  "  Dourbryf,"  or  "  Swift 
Stream."  The  most  important  natural  feature  of  the  place  is  the 
Medway,  which  flows  with  great  swiftness.  The  British  name  was 
Latinised  by  the  Romans  calling  it  Durobri-vis,  or  Durobri-vum.  The 
extent  of  the  old  walls  may  be  traced,  and  they  remain  picturesque 
ruins  in  many  places,  making  flower  gardens  and  walks  for  the  adjoin- 
ing houses.  Its  natural  advantages  made  Rochester  a  great  fighting 
place,  giving  it  the  name  of  "  the  Kentishmen's  Castle,"  under  all  its 
masters — Romans,  Saxons,  Danes,  Nonnans.  Until  the  time  of 
Edward  IV.,  its  Castle  and  walls  were  constantly  in  need  of  repair, 
all  his  royal  predecessors  besieging  or  defending  the  city  by  turns. 

Rochester  Castle,  one  of  the  finest  examples  of  Anglo-Norman 
architecture  in  the  kingdom,  stands  on  the  banks  of  the  Medway, 
being  built  on  the  brow  of  a  hill  with  its  principal  tower  so  situated 
as  to  command  both  the  river  and  adjacent  country.  It  is  attributed 
to  Cassar,  but  erroneously ;  but  it  is  highly  probable  that  the  Britons, 
from  their  experience  of  the  importance  of  this  passage  over  the  Med- 
way, might  erect  some  fortification  to  secure  it  after  the  Romans  had 
retired  to  the  Continent ;  and  when  the  legions  again  arrived,  in  the 
time  of  Claudius,  under  tke  command  of  A.  Plautius,  they  mright  im- 
prove it  to  a  regular  fort  or  Castle ;  for  such  a  jilace  there  certainly 
was,  since  both  Durobj'ivis  (or  Rochester)  is  mentioned  as  a  Roman 
rtation,  and  the  Roman  way  certainly  led  across  the  river  Medway, 
near  this  place. 

This  appears  more  certain  from  the  great  variety  of  Roman  coins 
which  have  fretjiiently  been  found  here — vi/..,  of  the  Emperors  Ves- 
pasian, Trajan,  Adrianus,  Antoninus  Pius,  Marcus  Aurelius,  Maximus, 
AurelianuB,  Constantius,  Conslantine  the  Great,  and  others.  All 
these  have  l)o<*n  found  in  the  ruins  of  the  Castle. 

This  fort  or  Castle  might  also  have  been  rebuilt  in  the  time  of  Uske, 


Rochester  Castle.  2'&j 

King  of  Kent,  about  the  year  480 ;  for  it  is  certain  there  was  a  fortress 
here  in  765,  when  Egbert,  King  of  Kent,  gave  a  certain  portion  of 
land  to  the  church  lying  within  the  walls  of  the  Castle  of  Rochester ; 
and  in  the  year  855,  Ethelwulf,  King  of  the  West  Saxons,  gave  a 
house  and  lands  to  one  Dunne  (his  minister),  that  were  situate  to  the 
south  of  the  Castle. 

The  Castle,  of  which  there  are  fine  remains,  was  built  about  the 
year  1088,  by  Gundulph,  a  monk  of  Bee,  in  Normandy,  Bishop  of 
Rochester,  and  the  most  celebrated  architect  of  his  age.  The  prin- 
cipal entrance  was  on  the  north-east,  which  was  defended  by  a  tower 
gateway,  probably  designed  to  command  the  passage  of  Rochester 
Bridge,  with  outworks  at  the  sides,  a  remaining  part  of  which  has 
fallen.  From  this  entrance  is  an  easy  descent  into  the  city,  formed  of 
two  arches  turned  over  the  Castle  ditch.  But  the  chief  attraction  is 
the  noble  tower  which  stands  in  the  south-east  angle  of  the  Castle, 
and  is  so  lofty  as  to  be  seen  distinctly  at  twenty  miles  distance.  This 
tower  was  rebuilt  in  the  place  of  the  original  square  one  destroyed 
when  King  John  besieged  and  took  the  fortress. 

In  the  reign  of  William  Rufus,  Kent  was  the  scene  of  Civil  War,  in 
which  Rochester  and  its  Castle  were  defended  on  behalf  of  Odo, 
Bishop  of  Baieux,  to  whom  the  fortress  belonged.  King  Rufus,  who 
was  not  deficient  in  courage,  finding  his  subjects  lukewarm  in  his 
support,  proclaimed  that  whosoever  would  not  be  reported  a  n'lding 
(ninny,  or  fool),  should  repair  to  the  siege  of  Rochester.  This  ex- 
pedient had  the  desired  effect ;  for  the  youth,  abhorring  the  above 
reproachful  name,  flocked  to  the  King's  standard,  and  he  soon  took 
the  town  and  closely  besieged  the  Castle  for  six  weeks,  without 
making  much  progress,  but  a  contagious  distemper  breaking  out,  the 
besieged  offered  to  capitulate.  Rufus,  however,  would  grant  them  no 
terms  for  a  time ;  at  length,  through  the  persuasion  and  entreaties  of 
his  nobles,  he  permitted  the  besieged  to  march  out  with  their  horses 
and  arms,  and  to  leave  the  kingdom  with  the  forfeiture  of  their 
estates ;  but  Odo  he  sent  a  prisoner  to  Tunbridge  Castle,  and  after- 
wards, on  condition  of  his  leaving  the  country,  gave  him  his  liberty. 

The  Castle  received  considerable  damage  by  this  siege  ;  and  perhaps 
the  Prior  and  Bishop  Gundulph  might  have  been  somewhat  tardy  in 
their  allegiance  to  Rufus ;  at  least  the  King  entertained  suspicions  of 
that  nature,  and  made  it  a  pretence  to  extort  money  from  them,  for  he 
refused  to  confirm  a  grant  of  the  manor  of  Hadenham,  in  Buckingham- 
shire, given  to  the  see  of  Rochester  by  the  then  archbishop,  Lanfranc ; 
but  being  entreated  by  Robert  Fitz  Hamon  and  Henry  Earl  of  Warwick, 


*S8  Rocfiester  Castle. 

the  King  consented,  on  condition  that  Gundulph  should  expend  60/.  in 
repairing  the  injuries  which  the  Castle  had  suffered  by  the  siege,  and 
make  other  necessary  additions. 

Gundulph  accordingly  repaired  the  walls,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  great  square  tower.  He  died  about  twelve  years  after  it  was  begun, 
leaving  it  unfinished;  but  it  has  ever  since  been  called  Gundulph's  Tower. 
It  is  quadrangular,  about  seventy  feet  square  at  the  base ;  the  walls  are 
in  general  twelve  feet  thick.  Adjoining  to  the  east  angle  of  this  tower 
is  a  small  one,  about  two-thirds  the  height  of  the  large  tower,  and  about 
twenty-eight  feet  square.  The  grand  entiance  was  into  this  small  tower 
by  a  noble  flight  of  steps,  through  an  arched  gateway,  adorned  with 
curious  fretwork.  At  this  entrance  was  a  drawbridge,  under  which 
was  the  common  entrance  into  the  lower  apartments  of  the  great  tower. 
These  lower  apartments  are  dark  and  gloomy.  They  are  divided  by 
a  partition  wall  five  feet  thick,  which  partition  is  continued  to  the  top. 
In  the  lower  part  of  the  walls  are  several  nan-ow  openings  for  light  and 
air ;  there  are  also  arches  in  the  partition  wall  by  which  one  room  com- 
municated with  the  other.  These  apartments  were  designed  for  store- 
rooms. 

In  the  partition  wall,  in  the  centre  of  the  building,  is  a  well,  neatly 
wrought  in  the  walls ;  which  well  ascends  through  all  the  stories  to  the 
top  of  the  tower,  and  has  a  communication  with  every  floor. 

On  the  north-east  side  within  the  tower  is  a  small  arched  doorway, 
through  which  is  a  descent  by  steps  into  a  vault  under  the  small  tower: 
here  seems  to  have  been  the  prison  and  melancholy  abode  of  the  state 
criminals  confined  in  the  fortress. 

Tlie  top  of  the  great  tower  is  about  ninety-three  feet  fiom  the  ground, 
round  which  is  a  battlement  seven  feet  high,  with  embrasures.  At  each 
angle  is  a  tower  about  twelve  feet  square,  with  floors  and  battlements 
above  them :  the  whole  height  of  these  towers  is  about  one  huntlrcd  and 
twelve  feet  from  the  ground.  There  is  in  the  tower  of  the  Castle  wall 
near  the  bridge  a  funnel  or  space  in  the  wall,  open  from  the  bottom 
to  the  top,  supposed  to  have  been  used  for  the  secret  conveyance  ot 
provisions  from  the  river  into  the  Castle. 

There  are  fire-places  to  the  rooms,  which  have  scmicnxular  chimney- 
pieces;  the  arches  of  which,  in  the  principal  rooms,  arc  ornamented 
similarly.  The  smoke  was  not  conveyed  off  through  funnels  ascending 
to  the  top  of  the  tower,  but  through  small  holes  left  for  that  purpose  in 
the  outer  wall  near  to  each  fire-place  About  mid-way  as  you  ascend 
to  the  next  floor,  there  is  a  narrow  arched  passage  or  gallery  in  the  main 
wall,  qtiitc  round  the  tower. 


Rochester  Castle.  209 

The  lower  being  finished,  the  first  circumstance  on  record  is  tht; 
imprisonment  of  Robert  Earl  of  Gloucester,  natural  son  of  Henry  I . 
This  great  man  was  general  and  counsellor  to  Matilda  in  her  opposition 
to  King  Stephen;  and  in  the  year  114 1  was  taken  prisoner  at  Win- 
chester, after  he  had  by  his  gallantry  effected  the  escape  of  his  sister 
Matilda.  He  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  William  de  Ypre,  who 
probably  was  castellan  of  Rochester  Castle  at  that  time,  for  he  sent  him 
a  close  prisoner  to  this  fortress.  King  Stephen,  at  the  same  time,  was 
in  confinement  by  Matilda :  and  very  soon  after  the  captivity  of  the 
Earl,  the  King  was  exchanged  for  him. 

The  Castle  was  given  in  custody  to  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury 
by  Henry  I.  in  1 126,  but  the  clergy  did  not  keep  it  long  ;  for  about 
the  year  1163,  Thomas  Becket,  among  the  many  insults  with  which  he 
treated  his  sovereign  King  Henry  H.,  accused  him  with  having  unjustly 
deprived  him  of  the  Castle  of  Rochester,  which  had  been  formerly  an- 
nexed to  the  archbishopric. 

In  the  troubled  reign  of  King  John,  William  de  Albini  bravely  de- 
fended Rochester  Castle  for  three  months  against  him :  during  the  siege 
the  garrison  in  the  Castle  were  reduced  to  such  extremities  that  they 
ate  all  their  horses.  At  length  the  fortress  surrendered,  when  all  the 
soldiers,  except  the  cross-bow  men,  were  ordered  by  King  John  to  be 
hung.  In  1 216,  Louis,  Dauphin  of  France,  landed  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet, 
near  Sandwich,  in  order  to  assist  the  Barons,  and  took  the  Castle  of 
Rochester,  after  a  short  siege  ;  but  after  his  retreat,  and  the  death  of 
King  John,  it  again  submitted  to  the  Crown. 

In  the  contest  between  Henry  III.  and  his  Barons,  in  1264,  Simon  de 
Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester,  made  a  furious  assault  on  the  Castle ; 
after  a  siege  of  seven  days  he  retired,  leaving  a  few  forces  to  continue 
the  siege,  but  these  were  soon  slain  or  put  to  flight. 

Edward  IV.  repaired  the  walls  of  this  Castle  ;  from  that  period  they 
were  left  to  decay.  In  the  next  century,  the  fortress  rested  among  the 
manors  of  the  Crown,  until  James  I.,  1610,  granted  it  with  all  its  ser- 
vices annexed,  to  Sir  Anthony  Weldon,  whose  descendants  demolished 
the  interior  for  the  sake  of  the  timber  ;  the  walls  defy  destruction.  It 
is  now  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Jersey. 

The  points  most  observable  are,  the  well,  and  its  contrivances  for 
supplying  every  floor;  the  ornamented  arched  gateway ;  the  semicir- 
cular fire-places  in  almost  every  story;  the  columns  and  arches  of  th. 
chapel  on  the  second  story ;  and  the  Titanesque  massiveness  of  the 
walls,  generally  twelve  feet  in  thickness,  which  make  modern  buildin;^ 
mere  doll-houses  of  pigmy  children.  From  the  floor,  at  one  vietv,  the 
*  17 


290  RicJiboroiigh  Castle. 

whole  height  of  the  interior,  with  its  five  stories,  appears.  The  space 
enclosed  by  the  walls  of  the  Castle  was  about  300  feet  square.  A  ditch, 
broad  and  deep,  suirounded  three  sides,  the  Medway  protecting  the 
fourth.  An  ancient  Castle  was  a  sort  of  armed  town  on  a  small  scale, 
with  all  kinds  of  provision  for  feasting,  residence,  fighting,  praying ;  and 
Rochester  still  retains  enough  of  its  characteristic  features  to  enable  us 
to  identify  many  of  its  parts. 

In  the  venerable  ruins  of  this  fortress  the  inhabitants  of  Roches- 
ter have  long  felt  an  interest,  in  which  the  whole  country  may  now 
be  said  to  participate ;  since,  under  the  shadow  of  those  walls,  in 
a  house  situate  in  the  garden  on  which  the  tower  abuts,  was  born  a 
successor  of  Lanfranc,  whose  praise  is  now  in  all  the  churches. 

Much  land  in  Kent  and  other  counties  is  held  of  this  Castle,  whose 
tenure  is  perfect  Castle  guard ;  for  on  St.  Andrew's  day,  old  style,  a 
banner  is  hung  out  at  the  house  of  the  receiver  of  the  rents ;  and  every 
tenant  who  does  not  then  discharge  his  proper  rent,  is  liable  to  have  it 
doubled  on  the  turn  of  every  tide  in  the  adjacent  river,  during  the  time 

it  remains  unpaid. 

♦ 

Richborough  Castle. 

This  ancient  maritime  station,  supposed  to  be  the  first  that  was 
formed  in  the  island,  is  situate  near  Sandwich.  It  is  one  of  the  noblest 
Roman  remains  in  the  country.  It  was  the  usual  place  of  communica- 
tion with  the  Continent,  and  guarded  one  mouth  of  the  Channel 
which  then  insulated  Thanet.  The  site  of  the  Castle  is  a  kind  of  pro- 
montory of  high  ground,  projecting  into  the  marshes.  "  Time,"  says 
Camden,  "  has  devoured  every  trace  of  it,  and  to  teach  us  that  cities 
arc  as  perishable  as  men,  it  is  now  a  corn-field,  where,  when  the  com 
is  grown  up,  one  may  see  the  traces  of  the  streets  intersecting  each 
other;  for,  wherever  the  streets  have  run  the  com  grows  thin.  The 
site  of  the  city  discovers  evidences  of  its  antiquity  in  Roman  coins  of 
gold  and  silver." 

The  area  within  the  walls  is  five  acres.  The  walls  (that  eastward 
has  disappeared)  are  flanked  with  projecting  round  towers  at  tiie  angles, 
and  by  intermediate  circular  towers.  There  is  a  large  opening  in  the 
west  wall,  and  a  narrower  one  in  the  north  wall.  The  walls  were 
built  of  blocks  of  chalk  and  stone,  and  faced  on  botii  sides  with 
square  blocks  of  stone,  banded  at  intei-vals  with  double  rows  of 
large  flat  tiles.  The  walls,  to  the  height  of  six  feet,  are  1 1  feet  3  inches 
thick,  above  U>at  heiglit  they  are    10  iect  y  inches.    Tlie  greatest 


Rcculvcr.  291 

height  of  the  wall  is  23  feet.  Near  the  Castle  are  the  remains  ot  a 
Roman  circular  amphitheatre,  of  about  70  yards  diameter.  Such  was 
part  of  the  system  adopted  by  our  conquerors  for  the  defence  of  the 
seaboard. 

It  is  stated  that  there  has  been  discovered  under  Richborough  Castle 
a  subterraneous  passage,  which  has  been  cleared  to  a  considerable 
distance,  some  six  feet  high  and  three  feet  broad,  besides  passages 
leading  therefrom  in  other  directions.  The  walls  and  roof  of  the  ex- 
cavated portion  are  described  as  lined  with  rough  stones  and  flint«. 


k 


Reculver. 

The  wide  estuary  which  formerly  separated  the  Isle  of  Thanet  from 
the  main  land  was,  in  the  Roman  times,  an  important  haven,  as  well 
as  the  general  passage  for  shipping  between  the  Downs  and  the  mouth 
of  the  Thames.  The  two  stations,  or  Castles,  which  guarded  the 
opposite  entrances  to  this  port  were  named  Regulbium,  now  Reculver, 
and  Rutupium,  or  Richborough  (just  described),  near  Sandwich. 
Reculver  must  have  been  the  first  watch-tower  seen  on  the  Kentish 
coast  by  ships  sailing  out  of  the  Thames.  The  Castle  also  commands 
a  view,  not  only  of  the  open  sea,  but  of  the  mouths  of  the  Thames 
and  Medway,  on  which  account  it  was  used  as  a  watch-tower  and  a 
lighthouse.  The  antiquity  of  Reculver  is  attested  by  the  variety  and 
abundance  of  Roman  remains  discovered  there.  The  northern 
station  has  been  partly  washed  away  by  the  sea.  The  Church 
of  Reculver,  which  forms  a  well  known  sea-mark,  occupied  the 
centre  of  the  station.  Richborough,  on  the  contrary,  has  been  de- 
serted by  the  waves,  and  is  now  considerably  within  the  land. 

On  the  subjugation  of  Kent  by  the  Saxons,  Regulbium  (Racu/f-cestre) 
became  a  principal  seat  of  the  Saxon  Kings ;  and  hither  King  Ethel- 
bert  retired  with  his  Court  after  his  conversion  to  Christianity  by 
St.  Augustine,  when  he  granted  his  Palace  at  Canterbuiy  to  the  monks 
for  the  site  of  the  Priory  of  Christchurch.  In  the  next  centuiy  it 
obtained  the  name  of  Raculf-minstre,  from  a  Benedictine  Abbey, 
founded  here  by  Bapa,  a  priest  and  noble,  to  whom  some  lands  were 
given  for  the  purpose  by  King  Egbert,  in  atonement  for  the  murder 
of  his  two  nephews.  Afterwards,  in  the  year  949,  Reculver  wai 
granted  by  King  Edred,  in  the  presence  of  Qiieen  Edgiva,  his  mother, 
and  Archbishop  Odo,  to  the  Monastery  of  Christchurch,  Canterbury; 
but  before  the  Nonnan  Conquest  the  Society  was  dissolved  or  removed 


2-92  Stuff  all  Castle. 

As  the  sea  continued  to  encroach  upon  the  shore,  and  tne  estuary  to 
be  filled  up,  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  the  once  extensive  and 
populous  town,  Reculver,  was  gi-adually  deserted ;  and  all  that  remain 
are  the  ruins  of  the  Roman  station,  and  the  desecrated  walls  of  the  church. 
This  was  thought  to  have  belonged  to  the  Abbey,  but  the  architecture 
is  of  a  much  earlier  period.  The  spires,  136  feet  high,  were  poeti- 
cally termed  "sisters,"  fi-om  a  popular  tradition  of  their  having  been 
built  at  the  expense  of  two  sisters.  They  are  now  deplorably  dila- 
pidated. The  remains  of  Ethelbert,  the  first  Christian  King  of  Kent, 
were  interred  in  the  first  church  erected  on  the  spot. 

Of  late  yeai-s,  Reculver  Castle  has  been  explored  by  Mr.  Roach 
Smith,  whose  investigations  have  thrown  a  new  light  upon  the  inquiry 
The  work  is  manifestly  Roman :  the  chancel  arch  was  triple,  resting 
upon  two  columns,  and  they  were  of  Roman  brick.  It  has  been  asked 
by  an  able  critical  writer,  "Is  it  a  church  built  out  of  some  Roman 
building,  which,  even  in  its  ruined  state,  was  capable  of  being  adapted 
to  such  a  purpose ;  or  was  it  simply  a  church  built,  after  the  conversion 
of  the  Kentishmen,  by  the  Roman  missionaries  in  the  Roman  manner  ? 
The  work,  though  Roman,  cannot  be  called  classic.  It  may  be  work 
of  the  very  latest  Roman  days,  or  even  of  Welshmen  left  to  their  own 
skill  after  Honorius  had  withdrawn  his  legions.  Or  it  may  be  the 
work  of  the  earliest  Christian  Englishmen  and  their  instructors.  In 
either  case  it  bears  witness  to  no  continuous  Roman  traditions,  such  as 
meet  the  inquirer  at  every  step  of  a  jouniey  through  a  Romance- 
speaking  land." 


Stutfall  Castle. 

This  is  the  modem  appellation  of  the  remains,  at  Stutfall,  of  the 
Roman  fortress  Lemanis,  between  AN'cst  Hythe  and  the  village  of 
Lymne,  and  having  an  area  of  about  five  acres.  The  high  road,  which 
appears  to  follow  the  Roman  road  from  Canterbury,  goes  almost  straight 
to  Lyninc.  Suddenly  you  see  the  vast  champaign  of  tiie  Romncy  Marshes, 
the  British  Channel,  and  the  coast  of  France.  This  tract  of  land  in 
times  past  has  been  subject  to  many  geological  changes,  but  is  now 
thoroughly  subjugated  by  the  hand  of  man  j  and  is  computed  to  contain 
about  56,000  acres,  including  the  shingle  banks  at  Dengeness  and  Hythe, 
which  may  l)c  estimated  at  10,000  acres.  It  is  intersected  with  dykes 
and  roads,  and  every  part  is  in  liigh  cultivation  as  pasture  or  arable  land, 
chiefly  the  former,  upon  which  at  least  goo.ooo  sheep  arc  f  ustaincd^  and 


Stntfall  Castle.  203 

mimei  oiis  herds  of  cattle.  The  ocean  itself  is  curbed  by  a  strong  mural 
defence,  called  the  Dymchurch  Wall.  Immediately  beneath  the  spot 
where  the  visitor  is  supposed  to  stand  was  the  Portus  Lemanis,  one  oi 
the  great  harbours  of  Roman  Britain  ;  but  the  name  and  position  are 
all  that  history  has  left  us  of  a  place  through  which  for  some  centuries 
poured  a  stream  of  communication  between  Britain  and  Gaul,  and  which 
shared  with  Rutupix  the  honour  of  sheltering  the  Roman  fleet.  The 
port  is  now  no  more ;  but  from  the  elevation  of  Lymne  the  eye  can 
still  trace  the  line  of  its  sea  margin.  It  is  remarkable,  that  at  the  time 
of  the  former  panic,  at  the  apprehended  invasion  by  Napoleon,  when  the 
military  canal  was  cut,  and  Martello  towers  at  an  incredible  expense 
were  erected  along  the  coast,  the  surveyors  considered  the  site  of  the 
entrance  of  the  Portus  Lemanis  as  by  far  the  most  advantageous  point 
for  the  enemy's  landing.  Opposite,  and  to  the  south-west  of  Lymne,  at 
the  time  when  the  Portus  Lemanis  existed,  the  land  must  have  stretched 
to  a  very  considerable  distance  beyond  the  present  sea  boundary,  pro- 
bably a  mile  at  least ;  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  tract 
now  submerged,  as  well  as  the  entire  district  now  known  as  theRomncy 
Marshes,  was  cultivated  and  peopled  by  the  Romans. 

The  destruction  of  the  fortress  has  been  assigned  to  land-slips,  such  as 
the  coast  of  Kent  is  subject  to,  and  subsidences  of  the  earth,  occasioned 
by  land-springs  acting  upon  the  clay,  which,  being  forced  out  from  its 
bed,  leaves  the  overlying  sandstone  without  support,  and,  inconsequence, 
it  gives  way,  and  slides  down.  Some  attribute  its  overthrow  to  the 
Saxons;  but  it  is  more  likely  attributable  to  an  earthquake.  In  1728, 
a  piece  of  land  to  the  west  of  the  castrum  sank  40  feet.  The  subsidence 
took  place  in  the  night-time,  and  it  was  so  imperceptible,  that  the 
inmates  of  a  farm-house  situate  upon  the  sunken  ground  did  not  know 
what  had  happened  until  the  morning.  A  penny  of  Fadgar,  found  at 
the  depth  of  two  feet,  and  also  some  iron  prick-spurs,  suggest  that  the 
castrum  may  have  been  partially  tenanted  for  some  centuries  after  the 
Romans  had  abandoned  it.  There  is  no  record  of  the  period  when  the 
great  land-slip  took  place,  but  it  has  been  suggested  before  the  Con- 
quest, since  Lanfranc  used  the  facing  stones  of  the  castrum  for  building 
the  Castle  and  Church  which  stand  upon  the  brow  of  the  cliff. 

The  excavations  of  these  curious  remains  were  commenced  in  1850, 
by  Mr.  Roach  Smith,  who  has  presented  to  the  subscribers  to  the  exca- 
vations a  very  interesting  Report,  with  explanatory  engravings,  showing 
how  portions  of  the  wall,  and  tower,  and  gates  fell,  or  overtoppled,  and 
showing  the  house  in  the  area  of  the  fortress;  also,  fragments  ot 
inscribed  tiles,  an  altar,  bronze  bracelet,  fine  red  pottery,  a  Saxon  pin. 


294  Hevcr  Castle  and  Aime  Bolcyn. 

ring,  and  chain,  jewellery,  variegated  glass,  and  coins  of  Carausius 
and  Allectus. 


Hever  Castle  and  Anne  Boleyn.  ^ 

At  the  distance  of  a  tourist's  walk  fiom  Edenbridge  and  Penshiirst,  '  7^ 
in  a  pleasant  nook  of  the  county  of  Kent,  stands  Hever  Castle — oflittl^ 
architectural  extent  or  pretension,  but  in  its  associations  one  of  the  most 
popular  and  interesting  of  our  historical  houses.  It  was  anciently  the 
seat  of  a  family  of  the  same  name,  but  is  more  endeared  to  memory  as 
the  paternal  abode  of  the  ill-fated  Anne  Boleyn.  It  is  acurious  specimen 
of  the  domestic  fortress,  and  was  erected  by  William  de  Hever,  a 
Norman  baron,  who,  under  Edward  III.,  obtained  the  King's  licence  to 
embattle  his  manor-house,  and  to  have  liberty  of  fi'ee  warren  within 
this  demesne.  His  two  daughters  and  co-heiresses  conveyed  it  in  mar- 
riage to  the  families  of  Cobham  and  Brocas ;  the  former,  who  had 
acquired  the  whole  by  purchase,  afterwards  sold  the  entire  estate  to 
Sir  Geoffrey  Boleyn,  a  wealthy  mercer  of  London,  Lord  Mayor  of  that 
city  in  the  thirty-seventh  of  Henry  VI.,  and  great-grandfather  to  Anne 
Boleyn,  a  Queen  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  mother  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

The  family  of  Boleyn,  or  Bullen,  originally  of  French  extraction,  was 
transplanted  to  England  soon  after  the  Norman  Conquest,  and  settled  in 
Norfolk,  where  they  resided  for  three  centuries,  maintaining  their  rank 
and  influence  among  the  provincial  gentry,  till  Sir  Geofl'rey  Boleyn, 
amidst  the  conflicts  of  York  and  Lancaster,  exchanged  the  pastimes  of 
hawking  and  hunting  for  the  pursuits  of  commerce,  amassed  gre.it 
wealth,  and  was  invested  with  the  knighthood,  whilst  his  children  inter- 
mamcd  with  noble  families.  Sir  Geoffrey  also  purchased  the  manor 
of  Blickling  from  Sir  John  Falstaff.  His  son,  Sir  William  Boleyn,  was 
equally  fortunate  with  his  father,  and  more  aspiring :  he  proved  a  suc- 
cessful courtier,  and  his  most  sanguine  expectations  were  more  than 
realized  by  the  subsequent  union  of  his  son  Thomas  with  ICli/abeth, 
daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  a  nobleman  in  whom  high  'Mnk  was 
exalted  by  chivalrous  valour,  munificent  liberality,  and  refinea  taste. 
Sir  Thomas  did  not,  however,  obtain  preferment  till  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  VII. ;  and  he  appears  to  have  passed  that  intei-val  at  Roch- 
ford  Hall,  in  Essex,  wheic,  in  1507,  his  wife  gave  birth  to  the  celebrated 
Anne,  the  scene  of  whose  infancy  is  still  shown  to  the  curious  incjuirer, 
and  many  traditional  stories  are  related.  Such  is  Miss  Benger's  state- 
ment;  but  Jilitkling  Hall,  in  Norfolk,  also  the  seat  of  Sir  Thomas 
Uoieyn,  iit  stated  to  have  been  the  birthplace  of  Anne.     A  tndition  was 


Hever  Castle  and  Anne  Boleyn.  295 

related  in  the  neighbourhood,  that  Sir  Thomas  Boleyn  was  believed  by 
the  vulgar  to  be  doomed  annually,  on  a  certain  night  in  the  year,  to 
drive  for  a  period  of  1000  years,  a  coach  draw^n  by  four  headless  horses, 
over  a  circuit  of  tw^elve  bridges  in  that  vicinity.  These  are  Aylsham, 
Burgh,  Oxnead,  Buxton,  Coltishall,  the  two  Meyton  bridges,  Wrex- 
ham, and  four  others.  Sir  Thomas  carries  his  head  under  his  arm, 
and  flames  issue  from  his  mouth.  Few  rustics  were  hardy  enough  to 
be  found  loitering  on  or  near  these  bridges  on  that  night ;  and  an  infor- 
mant averred,  that  he  himself  was,  on  one  occasion,  hailed  by  this 
fiendish  apparition,  and  asked  to  open  a  gate,  but  "  he  warn't  such  a 
fool  as  to  turn  his  head  ;  and  well  a'  didn't,  for  Sir  Thomas  passed  him 
full  gallop  like;"  and  he  heard  a  voice  which  told  him  that  he  (Sir 
Thomas)  had  no  power  to  hurt  such  as  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  his  re- 
quests, but  that  had  he  stopped  he  would  have  carried  him  off.  The 
informant  adds,  that  he  had  never  found  but  one  person  who  had  ever 
actually  seen  the  phantom. —  'Notes  and  Queries,  No.  29. 

To  return  to  Hever.  On  the  death  of  Sir  Thomas  Boleyn,  K.G., 
Earl  of  Wiltshire  and  Ormond,  and  father  of  Anne,  Henry  seized  this 
estate  in  right  of  his  own  wife ;  and  aftei-wards  enlarged  it  by  pur- 
chases from  others  of  her  family  ;  or,  as  Miss  Benger  states,  "  Henry, 
with  matchless  cupidity,  claimed  it  in  right  of  a  wife,  for  whom, 
previous  to  her  wedding,  he  had  been  divorced."  The  next  possessor 
was  Lady  Anne  of  Cleves,  who,  after  her  divorce,  had  settled  on  her 
this  and  other  manors  for  life,  so  long  as  she  should  remain  in  the 
kingdom.  She  made  Hever  Castle  her  general  place  of  residence,  and  died 
here  in  1557,  3  and  4  year  of  the  reign  of  Philip  and  Mary,  at  which  time 
the  estate  was  sold  by  Commissioners  authorized  by  the  Crown  to  Sir 
Edward  Waldegrave,  chamberlain  to  the  Queen's  household ;  who  on 
the  accession  of  Elizabeth  was  divested  of  all  his  employments  and  com- 
mitted to  the  Tower,  where  he  died  in  1561.  From  his  family  the 
manors  passed  to  the  Humphreys,  and  finally,  to  the  Malleys,  in 
Sussex.* 

The  Castle,  as  we  now  see  it,  is  a  mass  of  buildings,  with  buttresses, 


•  Much  of  the  property  left  by  Alderman  Boleviie  (the  Queen's  grandfather), 
was  situated  in  Kent,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  wliich  estates  a  worthy  inn- 
keeper, indignant  at  the  treatment  of  his  old  master's  relative,  altered  his  sign 
from  "The  Boleyne  Arms"  to  "The  Boleyne  Butchered."  Queen  Elizabeth, 
they  say,  who  took  every  means  to  hush  up  her  mother's  sorrows  and  end,  in- 
duced the  host  to  amend  it  into  the  "Bull  and  Butcher,"  which  henceforth 
became  a  popular  sign  throughout  all  England. — Historical  Reminiscences  oj 
the  City  of  London  and  its  Livery  Companies.  By  Thomas  Arundell,  BkD, 
1869. 


296  Hevcr  Castle  and  Anne  Bolcyn. 

square  towers,  embrasures,  square  headed  windows,  and  a  watered  moar, 
the  latter  being  supplied  by  the  river  Eden.  The  principal  front  consists 
of  an  entrance  flanked  by  towers:  it  is  embattled  and  strongly  maehi- 
colated,  and  defended  by  a  portcullis  and  two  thick  oaken  doors,  im- 
mediately behind  which  are  two  guard-rooms.  A  broad  avenue  of 
solid  masonry  leads  straight  to  a  second  portcullis,  and  this  again  to  a 
third,  occupying  altogether  the  whole  depth  of  the  Castle.  These 
gates  lead  into  a  spacious  courtyard  formed  of  three  sides  of  the  house 
built  in  the  early  Tudor  style,  and  on  the  fourth  by  the  Castle.  The 
great  dining-room,  now  used  as  a  kitchen,  contains  a  portion  of  the 
original  Boleyn  furniture ;  but  the  room  visited  with  the  greatest 
curiosity  is  that  known  as  Anne  Boleyn's  bedchamber,  beautifully 
panelled,  and  containing  the  original  furniture,  as  chairs,  tables,  muni- 
ment-chest, and  Anne's  bed.  Here,  too,  is  a  pair  of  elegant  and- 
irons, bearing  the  royal  initials  H.A.,  and  surmounted  with  a  royal 
crown.  A  door  in  one  of  the  corners  of  the  room  opens  into  a  strong 
dark  cell.  The  great  staircase  communicates  with  various  chambers, 
wainscoted  with  small  oaken  panelling,  and  a  gallery  the  whole  length 
of  the  building,  with  three  recesses :  in  one  of  them  it  is  said  Henry,  on 
one  of  his  visits,  received  the  congratulations  of  his  gentry ;  and  he 
is  said  to  have  used  it  as  a  council-chamber.  This  gallery  has  a  curiously 
ornamented  ceiling  in  stucco.  The  windows  of  the  staircase  display 
several  heraldic  shields  in  painted  glass,  collected  from  different  parts  of 
the  Castle,  charged  with  the  arms  and  alliances  of  the  Boleyns,  &c. 
At  the  upper  end  of  the  gallery,  part  of  the  floor  lifts  up  and  discover* 
a  narrow,  gloomy  descent,  leading  as  far  as  the  moat,  and  called  the 
dungeon. 

Presuming  the  reader  to  be  familiar  with  the  outline  of  the  ti'agical 
story  of  Anne  Boleyn,  we  may  proceed  to  detail  that  period  of  her 
life  which  she  passed  at  Hever.  Her  father.  Sir  Thomas  Boleyn,  was 
the  representative  of  an  ancient  line  in  Norfolk,  which  had  in  three  des- 
cents been  allied  to  the  noblest  families  in  England  ;  he  was  afterwards 
created  Viscount  Rochford  and  Earl  of  Wiltshire.  Anne's  mother 
was  Lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  Anne 
was  born  in  the  year  i-,07,  and  in  her  childhood  accompanied  Mary, 
the  sister  of  Henry  VIH.,  to  France,  where  she  remained  in  the  court 
of  that  Queen  and  of  her  successor,  the  wife  of  Francis  I.,  for  many- 
years.  She  was  afterwards  attached  to  the  household  of  the  Duchess 
of  Alcn^on.  Anne,  to  English  beauty  added  the  lively  charms  of  foreign 
manner.  Viscount  Chateaubriand  describes  her  as  "  rivalling  V\mius." 
It  is  most  probable  that  she  was  present  at  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of 


Ilever  Castle  and  A  nne  Boleyn.  2C)y 

Gold,  where  Henry  might  have  been  smitten  by  her  charms.  The  time 
of  her  return  from  France  is  doubtful,  but  is  placed  in  1527,  when  her 
father  was  sent  in  an  embassy  to  France.  At  that  time  she  became  a 
maid  of  honour  to  Qiieen  Katherine,  the  wife  of  Henry  VHI.,  and  was 
receiving  the  addresses  of  Lord  Percy,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Duke  of 
Northumberland.  If  the  assertion  of  Plenry  VHI.  is  to  be  credited,  he 
had  long  entertained  scruples  concerning  the  lawfulness  of  his  marriage 
with  his  brother's  widow  ;  and  had  attributed  to  the  violation  of  God's 
law  the  premature  death  of  all  his  children  by  Katherine,  excepting  the 
Princess  Mary.  The  most  charitable  and  credulous,  however,  cannot 
abstain  from  remarking  that  the  moment  of  his  proceeding  openly  to 
annul  the  marriage  was  identical  with  the  commencement  of  his  addresses 
to  Anne  Boleyn,  and  that  a  similar  coincidence  marks  the  catastrophe 
of  this  unhappy  woman.  A  letter  from  the  King  to  her  in  1528  alludes 
to  his  having  been  one  whole  year  struck  with  the  dart  of  love,  and  her 
engagement  with  Lord  Percy  was  at  this  time  broken  off  by  the  inter- 
vention of  Vv"olsey,  in  whose  household  that  nobleman  was  brought  up. 
After  this  malicious  interference  Anne  retired  to  Hever,  but  she  kept 
up  a  correspondence  with  Henry  by  letters :  some  of  the  King's  letters 
to  her  are  still  extant  in  the  library  of  the  Vatican.  Although  not  con- 
si  stent  with  the  delicacy  of  expression  usual  in  these  days,  they  show 
unquestionably  that  Anne  Boleyn  was  the  beloved,  not  the  mistress  of  the 
King.  The  crafty  Cardinal  having  first  prevailed  on  the  Earl  of  North- 
umberland to  forbid  his  son's  marriage  with  Anne,  succeeded  in  per- 
suading Sir  Thomas  Boleyn  to  withdraw  her  from  the  Court.  Anne 
was  little  aware  of  the  real  source  of  her  disappointment,  which  was,  in 
truth,  the  unholy  passion  of  Henry.  She,  on  the  other  hand,  attributed 
it  exclusively  to  Wolsey's  malice;  and  she  protested,  with  an  im- 
petuosity which  fatally  for  herself  she  never  learnt  to  control,  that  she 
would  some  day  find  the  means  to  recjuite  the  injury. 

From  the  diary  of  Margaret,  Sir  Thomas  More's  eldest  daughter,  we, 
gain  a  glimpse  of  Henry,  as  he  was  to  be  seen  in  1524.  Alargaret  More  '^    *" — 
says  her  mother  "  calls  him  a  fine  man  ;  he  is,  indeed,  big  enough,  and  ^    «  ^  \X  ( 
like  to  become  too  big,  with  long  slits  of  eyes  that  gaze  freelie  on  all,  j 
as  who  rhould  say,  '  Who  dare  let  or  hinder  us  ? '     His  brow  betokens  1        ^ 
sense  and  frankness,  his  eyebrows  are  supercilious,  and  his  cheeks  puffy ;  1    \  Vr^>K/ 

a  rolling,  straddling  gait,  and  abrupt  speech."    And,  in  1528,  "  Mistiess  1        .. 

Anne  is  not  there  (at  Court)  at  present;  indeed,sheis  now  always  hang- 
ing about  Court,  and  followeth  somewhat  too  literallie  the  Scripture 
injunction  to  Solomon's  spouse — to  forget  her  father's  house.  The  King 
likes  well  enow  to  be  compared  with  Solomon  ;  but  Mistress  Anne  it 


298  H ever  Castle  and  Anne  Bolcyn. 

not  his  spouse  yet,  nor  ever  will  be,  I  hope.     Flattery  and  Frenchified 
habits  have  spoilt  her,  I  trow." 

Mistress  Anne,  however,  drew  the  King  deeper  into  danger  by  judicious 
encouragement,  and  keeping  him  in  suspense.  Here  are  two  letters,  ia 
which  her  arts  are  plainly  visible : — 

Henry  VIII.  to  Anne  Boleyn, 

"  My  Mistress  and  my  Friend, — My  heart  and  I  surrender 
themselves  into  your  handvS,  and  we  supplicate  to  be  commended  to  your 
good  graces,  and  that  by  absence  your  affection  may  not  be  diminished 
to  us,  for  that  would  be  to  augment  our  pain,  which  would  be  a  great 
pity,  since  absence  gives  enough,  and  more  than  I  ever  thought  could  be 
felt.  This  brings  to  my  mind  a  fact  in  astronomy,  which  is,  that  the 
further  the  poles  are  from  the  sun,  notwithstanding,  the  more  searching 
is  the  heat.  Thus  it  is  with  our  love ;  absence  has  placed  distance 
between  us,  nevertheless,  fenour  increases,  at  least  on  my  part.  I  hope 
the  same  from  you,  assuring  you  that  in  my  case  the  anguish  of  absence 
is  so  great  that  it  would  be  intolerable,  were  it  not  for  the  Jirm  hope 
I  have  of  your  indissoluble  affection  towards  me.  In  order  to  re- 
mind you  of  it,  and  because  I  cannot  in  person  be  in  your  presence,  I 
send  you  the  thing  that  comes  nearest  that  is  possible — that  is  to  say, 
my  picture,  and  the  whole  device,  which  you  already  know  of,  set  in 
bracelets,  wishing  myself  in  their  place  when  it  pleases  you.  This  is 
the  hand  of 

'•  Your  servant  and  friend, 

"H.  R." 

jinne  Boleyn  to  Henry  VIII. 

"  Sir, —  It  belongs  only  to  the  august  mind  of  a  great  king  to  whom 
nature  has  given  a  heart  full  of  generosity  towards  the  sex,  to  repay  by 
favours  so  extraordinary  an  artless  and  short  conversation  with  a  girl. 
Inexhaustible  as  is  the  treasury  of  your  Majesty's  bounties,  I  pray  you 
to  consider  that  it  cannot  be  sufficient  to  your  generosity  ;  for  if  you 
recompense  so  slight  a  conversation  by  gifts  so  great,  what  will  you  be 
able  to  do  for  those  who  are  ready  to  consecrate  their  entire  obedience  to 
jour  desires  f  How  great  soever  may  be  the  bounties  I  have  received, 
the  joy  that  I  feel  in  being  loved  by  a  king  whom  I  adore,  and  to  ivhom 
I  <would  avith  pleasure  make  a  sacrifice  of  my  heart,  if  fortune  had  ren- 
dered it  nvorthy  of  being  offered  to  him,  will  cvei  be  infinitely  greater. 

"The  warrant  of  maid  of  honour  to  the  Queen  induces  me  to  think 


Hever  Castle  and  A  nne  Bohyn.  299 

that  your  Majesty  has  some  regard  for  me,  since  it  gives  me  the  means 
of  seeing  you  oftener,  and  of  assuring  you,  by  my  own  lips  (which  I 
ehall  do  on  the  first  opportunity),  that  I  am 

"  Your  Majesty's  very  obhged  and  very  obedient 
"Servant,  luithout  any  reserve, 

"  Anne  Boleyn." 

Anne's  seclusion  at  Hever  Castle  is  touchingly  referred  to  by  Miss 
Benger:  "  The  long  gallery  she  so  often  traversed  with  impatience,  still 
seems  to  re-echo  her  steps  ;  and  after  the  vicissitudes  of  three  centuries, 
the  impression  of  her  youth,  her  beauty,  and  singular  destiny,  is  still 
fresh  and  vivid  to  the  imagination." 

While  Anne  Boleyn  was  repining  in  exile,  Henry  contrived  the 
marriage  of  her  lover,  Lord  Percy,  to  the  daughter  of  the  Earl  of 
Shrewsbury.  At  this  moment  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  her  aware  of 
the  true  source  of  her  disappointment;  even  her  father's  sagacity  appears 
not  to  have  penetrated  the  mystery;  and  he  probably  attributed  the 
royal  interposition  solely  to  that  spirit  of  domination  which  he  had 
long  remarked  in  his  sovereign,  of  whom  it  was  too  justly  predicted 
that  he  would  not  scrupb  to  stx-ike  off  even  a  favourite's  head  if  it 
obstructed  his  views  of  advantage. 

According  to  tradition,  however,  the  mist  vanished  from  his  eyes 
when  he  suddenly  saw  the  King  arrive  by  stealth  at  Hever  on  some 
frivolous  pretext,  which  ill  disguised  his  real  errand,  that  he  came 
but  to  steal  a  glimpse  of  the  lovely  Anne  Boleyn.  Alarmed  by  his 
delicate  attention.  Sir  Thomas  is  said  to  have  sedulously  withdrawn  his 
daughter  from  the  King's  view,  and  during  his  visit,  on  the  plea  of 
mdisposition,  to  have  kept  her  confined  to  her  chamber.  Whatever 
credit  be  attached  to  this  story,  it  is  certain  that  a  considerable  time 
intervened  before  Anne  received  her  place  at  Court ;  and  that  during- 
her  absence  her  ^ner,  created  Lord  Viscount  Rochford,  was  advanced 
to  the  office  of  Treasurer  of  the  Royal  household. 

In  the  meantime  the  King's  divorce  from  Katherine  was  retarded 
by  various  delays ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1533  Henry 
married  Anne  Boleyn  secretly,  in  the  presence  of  her  uncle,  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  and  of  her  father  and  mother — first  secretly,  in  a  garret  of 
Whitehall  Palace,  and  then  publicly.  A  handsome  little  clock  of  brass 
(by  mistake  sometimes  described  as  silver-gilt)  was  presented  by  Henry 
to  Anne  upon  the  day  of  the  marriage.  This  clock  fell  into  the  posses- 
sion of  Lady  Elizabeth  Germaine,  who  gave  it  to  Horace  Walpole.  At 
the  Strawberry  Hill  sale,  this  famous  clock  was  purchased  for  Queen 


i'^  Hcver  Castle  and  Anne  Bolcyn. 

Victoria  for  no/.  5J.,  and  it  is  now  in  Windsor  Castle,  and  in  going 
order.  It  is  richly  chased  and  engraved,  and  ornamented  with  fleurs- 
de-lis,  SiC,  and  surmounted  with  the  arms  of  England.  The  weights 
are  chased  with  the  initials  of  Henry  and  Anne  within  true  lovers' 
knots.  One  bears  the  inscription  "  The  most  happye,"  the  other  the 
Royal  motto.  Queen  Anne  was  crowned  at  Whitehall  with  great 
pomp,  on  the  1st  of  June,  and  on  the  13th  of  the  following  September 
the  Princess  Elizabeth  was  bom.  Poor  unhappy  Katherine,  after 
having  served  Henry  fiiithfully  eighteen  years,  he  willingly  turned 
adrift,  "  and  all,"  says  Margaret  More,  "  for  love  of  a  brown  girl  with 
a  wen,  or  perthroat,  and  an  extra  finger."  Henry  was  more  con- 
cerned about  the  iven  than  any  scruples  of  conscience,  and  in  1536 
was  pleased  to  prefer  Lady  Jane  Seymour  to  either,  upon  which  there 
followed  a  base  accusation,  a  mockery  of  a  trial,  and  the  gleam  of  a 
bright  axe. 

There  is  a  mysterious  uncertainty  about  Anne's  burial-place.  There 
is  a  tradition  at  Salle,  in  Norfolk,  that  her  remains  were  removed  from 
the  Tower  and  interred  at  midnight,  with  the  rites  of  Christian  burial, 
in  Salle  Church  ;  and  a  plain  black  stone,  without  any  inscription,  was 
long  supposed  to  indicate  the  spot  where  she  was  buried.  The  stone 
has  been  raised,  but  no  remains  were  found  underneath  it.  Holinshed, 
Stow,  and  Speed  say  that  the  body,  with  the  head,  was  buried  in  the 
choir  of  the  Chapel  in  the  Tower  ;  and  Sandford  that  she  was  buried 
in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Peter,  in  the  Tower.  Burnet,  who  is  followed  by 
Hume,  Henry,  and  Lingard,  says  that  Anne's  body  was  thrown  into 
an  elm  chest  to  put  arrows  in,  and  was  buried  in  the  Chapel  in  the 
Tower  before  twelve  o'clock.  In  Crispin's  description  of  the  execution, 
written  fourteen  days  after,  is  the  following  passage,  cited  by  Mr.  Sharon 
Turner: — "Her  ladies  immediately  took  up  her  head  and  the  body. 
They  seemed  to  be  without  souls,  they  were  &o  languid  and  ex- 
tremely weak ;  but  fearing  that  their  mistress  miglit  be  handled  mj\- 
worthily  by  inhuman  men,  they  forced  themselves  to  do  this  duty,  jncl 
though  almost  dead,  at  last  carried  off  her  dead  body  wrapt  in  a  white 
covering." 

A  Correspondent  of  the  Gentleman  s  Magazine,  Oct.  181  r;,  describes 
"  the  headless  remains  of  the  departed  queen  as  deposited  in  the  arrow- 
chest,  and  buried  in  the  Tower  chapel,  before  the  Higli  Altar.  Where 
that  stood,  the  most  sagacious  antic) uary,  after  a  lapse  of  more  than 
three  hundred  years,  cannot  now  determine ;  nor  is  the  circumstance, 
though  related  by  eminent  writers,  clearly  ascertained.  In  a  cellar, 
the  body  of  a  person  of  short  Gtature,  without  a  head,  not  many  yeara 


Timhridge  Castle,  301 

since  was  found,  and  supposed  to  be  the  reliques  of  poor  Anne;  but 
Joon  after  reinterred  in  the  same  place,  and  covered  with  earth."* 

The  fall  of  the  Boleyns  must  have  been  signally  sudden  ;  for  Lam- 
bard,  in  his  Perambulations  in  Kent,  published  about  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  does  not  refer  to  the  family.  To  the  Boleyns 
no  motto  could  have  been  so  appropriate  as  that  assumed  by  the  House 
ofCourteney:  Ubi  lapsus  f  Quid  feci  f  (Where  have  I  fallen  ?  What 
have  I  done  ?)  Their  rise  had  been  slow  and  gradual — their  fall  was 
rapid  and  irretrievable;  and  after  the  death  of  Anne,  they  never 
recovered  dignity  and  importance.  The  Earl  of  Wiltshire  survived 
his  ill-fated  daughter  but  two  years,  and  died  in  1538,  at  Hever,  in 
whose  parochial  church  his  tomb  is  pointed  out.  For  the  Countess, 
contrary  to  her  daughter's  predictions,  was  reser%'ed  a  longer  term  of 
existence ;  and  eventually  she  lived  to  witness  the  death  or  disgrace  oi 
those  peers  who  sat  in  judgment  on  her  daughter.  The  Earl  oi 
Northumberland  had  soon  followed  the  object  of  his  juvenile  affection 
to  the  grave,  overwhelmed  with  shame  and  sorrow  by  the  execution 
of  his  brother,  Sir  Thomas  Percy,  who  had  been  involved  in  Aske's 
rebellion.  Cromwell  and  Suirey  perished  on  the  scaffold,  and  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk  was  immured  in  the  Tower  ere  the  remains  of  Anne's 
mother  were  consigned  to  the  tomb  of  her  ancestors  in  the  chapel  at 
Lambeth,  with  this  brief  monumental  inscription :  "  Elizabeth  Howard, 
sometime  Countess  of  Wiltshire."  Mary  Boleyn,  her  younger  daughter, 
died  in  1546,  at  Rochford  Hall,  Essex,  leaving  two  children,  a 
daughter,  afterwards  married  to  Sir  Francis  KnoUys ;  and  a  son,  Henry 
Carey,  created  Baron  Hunsdon  by  Queen  Elizabeth,  in  whose  bril- 
liant circle  he  was  distinguished  as  the  honest  courtier.  His  son 
enjoyed  favour  and  consideration  by  James  L,  but  the  fortunes  of  their 
House  declined,  and  the  collateral  branches  of  the  Boleyns  in  Kent  and 
Norfolk  sank  into  quiet  obscurity. 


Tunbridge  Castle. 

Close  to  the  railway  station  of  "  Tunbridge  Town,"  there  exists  an 
architectural  fragment.vvhich  may  be  often  mistaken  for  an  entire  Castle, 
but  was  merely  the  entrance  gateway  to  a  fortress  of  very  gi-eat  extent. 
At  the  time  of  the  Domesday  Survey,  lands  were  held  here  by  Richard 
de  Tonebridge,  a  Norman  follower  and  uncle  of  the  Conqueror,  who 
created  him  Earl  of  Clare,  and  settled  several  lordships  upon  liim.  De 
Tonebridge  exchanged    his  lands  at  Byon,  in  Normandy,  with  the 


302  Timbridge  Castle. 

Archbishop  of  Canterbury  for  a  tract  of  equal  extent  at  Tunbridge^ 
Here  he  erected  a  Castle,  and  assembled  his  retainers  and  vassals. 
These  were  called  into  active  service  soon  after  the  death  of  William  I., 
for  Earl  Richard  espoused  the  cause  of  Robert  Curtoise,  in  oppo- 
sition to  William  Rufus,  who  had  seized  the  crown.  The  latter  im- 
mediately marched  an  army  to  Tunbridge,  to  compel  obedience  and 
allegiance  to  his  relative  ;  and  the  Earl,  after  a  short  struggle,  was  com- 
pelled to  submit.  Frequent  contests  occurred  between  the  lords  of 
this  Castle  and  the  prelates  of  Canterbury,  till  the  reign  of  Henry  III., 
when  it  was  agreed  that  the  Earls  of  Clare  should  hold  "  Tunbridge  and 
its  Lowy,"  />.,  liberty  or  certain  district  which  had  grown  up  under 
the  protection  of  the  Castle — "  by  the  grand  sergeantcy  of  being  chief 
butlers  and  high  stewards  at  the  instalments  of  the  metropolitans,  and 
grant  them  wardship  of  their  children."  On  such  occasions  the  butler  was 
to  receive  seven  robes  of  scarlet,  30  gallons  of  wine,  50  pounds  of  wax  for 
his  own  lights  at  the  feast,  the  livery  of  hay  and  corn  for  So  horses  for 
two  nights,  and  the  dishes  and  salts  placed  before  the  prelates  at  the  first 
course  of  the  feast,  &c.  These  sei-vices  and  conditions  remained  in 
force  till  the  fourteenth  century,  when  they  were  compounded  for  by 
a  sum  of  money,  generally  200  marks.  At  the  tim.e  of  Henry  VIII. 
this  office  was  held  by  Edward  Duke  of  Buckingham.  The  history  of 
the  fortress  embraces  accounts  of  sieges,  burnings,  sappings,  and 
slaughter  too  numerous  to  relate.  In  the  Civil  troubles  of  Hemy  III. 
the  Castle  was  besieged  and  taken  from  its  owner,  the  Earl  of 
Clare,  by  Prince  Edward ;  and  during  the  siege,  the  garrison  burnt 
the  town.  There  was  also  a  Priory  at  Tunbridge,  founded  by  Earl 
Richard,  in  the  time  of  Henry  I.  for  canons  of  St.  Augustine,  of 
which  structure  only  a  small  fi-agment  remains.  King  Edward  I.  was 
entertained  at  this  Castle  in  a  magnificent  style  for  several  days,  in  the 
second  year  of  his  reign.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  the  Castle,  toge- 
ther with  the  town,  was  forfeited  to  the  Crown  by  the  Duke  of  Huck- 
ingham ;  after  which  time,  the  fortress  was  suffered  to  fall  into  decay. 

The  remains  of  the  Castle  arc  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  Mcdvvay, 
which  formerly  was  made  to  How  not  only  around  the  whole  Castle 
in  a  broad  moat,  but  also  around  the  base  of  the  keep.  The  exterior 
walls  enclosed  about  six  acres.-  Part  of  the  outer  walls  remain ;  also 
the  lower  portion  of  the  water-tower,  t!ic  mound  of  the  Keep,  and 
the  entrance  gatehouse.  The  latter  is  flanked  by  two  circular  towers, 
and  had  a  drawbridge  in  front,  of  the  time  of  King  John  or  1  lenry  III, 
This  Anglo  Norman  fortress,  by  the  side  of  the  railway  of  our  times, 
is  a  very  suggestive  scene. 


Penshicrst  Place  and  the  Sydncys.  iq-^ 

T  jnbridge  Wells,  at  a  short  distance  from  Tunbridge  Town,  dates 
from  early  in  the  i6th  century,  when  persons  of  fashion  began  to  "  drink 
Tunbridge  waters."  Among  the  papers  of  Richardson,  the  novelist, 
was  found  a  water-colour  drawing  by  Loggan  showing  the  principal 
walk  at  "The  Wells,"  with  portraits  of  Dr.  Johnson,  Gibber,  Garrick, 
Mr.  Pitt  (the  Earl  of  Chatham),  Beau  Nash,  Miss  Chudleigh  (after- 
wards Duchess  of  Kingston),  and  Richardson  himself.  The  date  of  the 
drawing  is  1748  ;  it  was  engraved  and  coloured  as  the  frontispiece  to 
Richardson's  Correspondence,  published  in  1804. 


Penshurst  Place  and  the  Sydneys. 

About  six  miles  north-west  of  Tunbridge  Wells,  in  a  picturesque 
district,  towards  the  western  verge  of  the  county  of  Kent,  lies  Pens- 
hurst Place,  the  memorable  and  once  splendid  mansion  of  the  Sydneys. 
In  the  Norman  times,  there  was  a  building  here  occupied  by  a  family 
named  Penchester.  One  of  this  race.  Sir  Stephen  de  Penchester,  was  a 
famous  Lord  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports  and  Constable  of  Dover  Castle 
Jin  the  reigns  of  Henry  III.  and  Edward  I.     In  the  15th  of  Edward  II.,  N  «' 

I  Sir  John  de  Poultney,  then  possessor  of  Penshurst,  obtained  a  \  V^p^ 
\licence  to  embattle  his  mansion  :  he  was  four  times  Lord  Mavor  of  Lon-  \  \  ,»* 
don,  and  was  noted  for  his  public  charities,  magnificent  housekeeping, 
and  splendid  buildings.  In  course  of  time  the  lands  of  Penshurst,  as 
the  place  is  now  called,  fell  into  the  possession  of  females,  one  of  whose 
descendants  sold  the  property  to  the  Regent,  the  Duke  of  Bedford. 
On  his  decease  at  Paris,  in  the  14th  Henry  VI.,  Penshurst  came  to 
his  next  brother,  the  good  Duke  of  Gloucester,  after  whose  death,  m 
1447,  it  descended  to  the  King,  and  was  in  the  same  year  granted  to  the 
Staffords.  On  the  attainder  of  Edward  Duke  of  Buckingham  the  pos- 
sessions of  this  family  fell  to  the  Crown.  Henry  VIII.  long  kept  the] 
property,  and  greatly  extended  the  park ;  and  it  has  been  presumed  tha* 
during  one  of  his  visits  here  Jie  first  became  acquainted  with  Anpe 
Bolejn,  then  living  with  her  father  at  Hever  Castle,  in  the  nei-ghbourhood. ' 
King~Edward  VI.  granted  Penshurst  to  Sir  Ralph  Fane,  who  within 
two  years  afterwards  was  executed  as  an  accomplice  to  the  Protector 
Somerset.  The  property  was  then  given  by  the  youthful  Sovereign  to 
Sir  William  Sydney,  one  of  the  heroes  of  Flodden  Field,  whose  connexioi 
with  the  King  is  in  part  explained  by  the  inscription  on  the  square 
massive  entrance-tower — "  The  most  religious  and  renowned  Prince 
Edward  the  Sixth,  King  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  gave  tliis 


304  PcnsJinrst  Place  and  the  Sydncys. 

nouse  of  Penchester,  with  the  manors,  lands,  and  appurtenances  there- 
unto belonging,  unto  his  trustye  and  well-beloved  servant,  Syr  William 
Sydney,  Knight  Banneret,  serving  him  from  the  time  of  his  birth  unto 
his  coronation  in  the  offices  of  Chamberlayne  and  Stewarde  of  his 
Household,  in  commemoration  of  which  most  woithy  and  famous 
King,  Sir  Henry  Sydney,  Knight  of  the  most  noble  Order  of  the 
Garter,  Lord  President  of  the  Council  established  in  the  Marches  of 
Wales,  son  and  heyre  of  the  aforenamed  Sir  William,  caused  this  tower 
to  be  erected,  anno  Domini  1585."  Near  this  inscription  is  a  hatch- 
ment, quartering  the  Royal  arms  with  those  of  the  Sydneys  ;  below  is 
carved  the  Royal  arms  of  the  period. 

Dying  in  1553,  at  the  age  of  70,  Sir  William's  property  descended 
to  his  son  and  heir.  Sir  Henry  Sydney,  a  learned  and  accomplished 
knight,  in  whose  arms  the  youthful  King  Edward  VI.  expired.  Grieved 
at  this  sad  event,  Sir  Henry  retired  to  Penshurst,  where  he  sheltered 
and  protected  his  father-in-law,  "  the  great  and  miserable  "  John  Dud- 
ley, Duke  of  Northumberland,  and  his  tamily.  Sir  Henry  enjoyed  the 
[confidence  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  died  at  Ludlow  Castle,  while 
I  President  of  the  Welsh  Marches.  His  body  was  conveyed  to  Pens- 
hurst and  by  the  Queen's  order  there  buried.  He  left  three  sons  and  a 
daughter,  of  whom  Sir  Philip,  Sir  Robert,  and  Mary,  are  distinguished 
in  our  historic  and  poetic  annals. 

The  great  light  of  Penshurst  was  Sir  Philip  Sydney,  one  of  the 
brightest  gems  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  Court, — the  eloquent  poet,  able 
statesman,  and  noble  soldier.  The  house,  the  woods,  gardens,  and 
terraces  around  are  full  of  delightful  associations  connected  with  this 
worthy  and  accomplished  gentleman,  the  author  of  Arcadia,  the  Defence 
of  Poesy,  and  Astrophis  and  Stella.  Oldys  could  muster  up  200  authors 
who  had  spoken  in  praise  of  Sir  Philip  Sydney.  It  is  said  of  this 
famous  Sydney  that  •'  Royalty  would  be  honoural  by  his  acceptance  of 
it."  Notwithstanding  his  high  qualities,  Sir  Philip  Sydney,  in  conse- 
quence of  expressing  a  plain  and  honest  objection  to  the  proposed 
French  marriage  of  Queen  Elizabeth  and  certain  State  intrigues,  be- 
came for  a  time  under  the  Royal  disfavour,  and  retired  for  a  period  to 
Wilton,  and  there  wrote  his  most  famous  work.  The  following 
extract,  so  characteristic  of  the  man,  is  worth  quoting  here: — "Let 
calamities  be  the  exercise  but  not  the  overt Inow  of  my  virtue.  Let  the 
power  of  my  enemies  prevail,  but  prevail  not  to  my  destruction.  Let 
my  greatness  he  tlieir  pretext,  my  pain  be  the  sweetness  of  their 
revenge.    Let  them,  if  so  it  seems  good  unto  thee,  vex  me  with  more 


Pcnshurst  Place  and  the  Sydney's.  305 

and  more  punishment ;  but,  O  Lord,  let  never  their  wickedness  have 
such  a  bead  but  that  I  may  carry  a  pure  mind  in  a  pure  body."  These 
words  were  in  years  after  repeated  by  Charles  I.  shortly  before  his 
execution. 

When  only  thirty-two  years  of  age,  Sir  Philip  Sydney  was  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Zutphen.  It  was  on  this  field  that,  being  offered  water, 
he  desired  that  it  might  be  given  to  a  soldier,  whose  wants,  said  Sir 
Philip,  were  greater  than  his  own.  This  happened  on  Sept.  22,  1576. 
He  died  twenty-five  days  after,  and  was  buried  with  great  pomp  in  St. 
Paul's  Cathedral.  Robert,  the  brother  of  Sir  Philip,  afterwards  became 
Earl  of  Leicester ;  and  his  sister,  to  whom  the  Arcadia  is  dedicated, 
Countess  of  Pembroke.  The  character  of  Sir  Philip  Sydney  is  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  long  line  of  English  chivalry.  He  was  "  a  gentleman 
finished  and  complete,  in  whom  mildness  was  associated  with  courage, 
erudition  mollified  by  refinement,  and  courtliness  dignified  by  truth. 
He  is  a  specimen  of  what  the  English  character  is  capable  of  producing, 
when  foreign  admixtures  had  not  destroyed  its  simplicity,  or  politeness 
debased  its  honour.  Of  such  a  stamp  was  Sir  Philip  Sydney  ;  and  as 
such  every  Englishman  has  reason  to  be  proud  of  him."  Sir  Walter' 
Raleigh  styled  him  "  the  English  Petrarch."  The  chivalry  of  his  cha- 
racter, his  learning,  generous  patronage  of  talent,  and  his  untimely  fate,' 
contribute  to  make  him  an  object  of  great  interest.  "  He  trod,"  says 
the  author  of  the  Effigies  Poeticx,  "  from  his  cradle  to  the  grave,  amidst 
incense  and  flowers,  and  died  in  a  dream  of  glory."  Dr.  Thornton,  of 
Oxford,  had  it  recorded  on  his  tomb  that  he  was  "  Tutor  to  Sir  Philip 
Sydney  :"  and  Lord  Brooke  in  like  manner  commemorated  his  affection 
and  esteem  for  his  early  friend  by  causing  the  following  inscription  to 
be  placed  upon  his  own  monument : — "  Fulke  Greville,  servant  to 
Queen  Elizabeth,  Counsellor  to  King  James,  and  friend  to  Sir  Philip 
Sydney." 

Sir  Robert  Sydney  succeeded  to  the  Penshurst  property;  he  was 
succeeded  by  his  son  and  heir,  in  1626,  and  after  spending  some  time  a^ 
foreign  courts,  settled  at  Penshurst,  where  he  died  in  1677,  in  his  8;!nd 
year.  Among  his  fourteen  children  was  the  celebrated  Algernon 
Sydney,  who,  through  the  iniquitous  Jeffreys,  was  implicated  in  the 
Rye  House  plot,  and  illegally  put  to  death  in  1683 ;  for  one  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  Revolution  was  to  reverse  his  attainder.  One  of  Algernon's 
sisters,  afterwards  Countess  of  Sunderland,  was  the  famed  Saccharissa 
of  the  poet  Waller. 

Penshurst  continued  to  be  inhabited  by  tlie  Sydneys  to  July,  17/3, 
*  X 


306  Penshnrst  Place  and  the  Sydncys. 

when  Jocelyn,  the  last  Earl  of  Leicester  of  this  family,  died  without 
legitimate  issue,  and  disputes  and  litigation  followed.  The  next  pos- 
sessor was  William  Perryng,  by  marriage  with  Elizabeth  Sydney,  niece 
of  the  above  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  who  left  the  estate  in  the  hands  of 
trustees  for  her  grandson,  the  yoimger  brother  of  Sir  John  Shelley, 
of  Castle  Goring,  Sussex,  who  has  since  taken  the  ancient  family  name 
of  Sydney.  His  only  surviving  son  was  Sir  Philip  Charles  Sydney,  son- 
in-law  of  King  William  IV.,  who,  in  1835,  conferred  on  him  the  barony 
of  De  Lisle  and  Dudley,  not  a  new  creation,  but  the  revival  of  a  title 
which  had  long  been  claimed  by  the  Sydneys  of  Penshurst.  His  lord- 
ship, who  man-ied  Lady  Sophia  Fitzclarence,  became  the  occupier  of 
Penshurst ;  and  is  understood  to  have  been  liberally  aided  by  King 
William  IV.  in  the  reparation  of  the  mansion.  Kings  had  already  con- 
tributed to  its  embellishment ;  and  much  beautiful  tapestry  and  furniture 
were  presented  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to  its  distinguished  possessor. 
Lord  De  Lisle  and  Dudley  died  in  1851,  and  was  succeeded  by  the 
present  peer  and  possessor  of  Penshurst  Place. 

The  house,  originally  a  fine  specimen  of  the  embattled  mansion  of 
the  14th  century,  or,  possibly,  a  castle,  in  later  times  expanded  into  a 
mixture  of  the  castle  and  mansion,  with  its  towers,  courts,  and  spacious 
hall,  retained  much  of  its  olden  state  until  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 
Inscriptions  and  armorial  bearings  on  different  parts  of  the  building, 
point  out  their  respective  ages.  In  1S03,  John  Carter  could  recognise 
the  architectural  characteristics  of  the  reigns  of  Henry  II.,  Richard  1 1 1., 
Henry  VIII.,  Elizabeth,  James  I.,  and  Georges  I.  and  II.;  so  that  a 
portion  of  Penshurst  Place  is  nearly  seven  centuries  old.  The  fine  old 
baronial  hall  60  feet  by  40  feet,  and  60  in  height,  is  open  to  the  roof, 
where  was  originally  an  open  lowvre.  Beneath  it,  on  the  floor,  is  the 
fire-hearth  with  large  and-irons  upwards  of  3  feet  6  inches  high  ;  near 
the  top  of  each  is  the  double  broad  arrow  of  the  Sydney  arms ;  the 
"  dogs  "  are  connected  by  a  massive  bar  of  iron,  which  served  the  pur- 
pose of  a  rest  for  the  fuel.  This  is  nearly  a  yard  and  a  half  wide,  and 
would  allow  the  trunks  and  large  portions  of  trees  to  blaze;  the  ribs  of 
tlie  roof  and  the  walls  are  much  discoloured  by  the  wood-smoke.  Near 
the  entrance  to  the  hall  is  the  dinner-bell,  of  considerable  size,  and 
inscribed  with  the  words :  "  Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester,  at  Penshurst, 
1649."  The  sills  of  the  side  windows  arc  very  near  the  fitjor,  an 
unusunl  arrangement  in  such  halls.  The  floor  is  composed  of  small  bricks 
and  tiles,  and  beneath  is  a  very  fine  crypt  or  vault.  Communicating 
with  the  hall   is  a  state  room,  70  feel  lung,  with  an  EUzabcthan 


Penshnrst  Place  and  the  Sydney s.  '^oj 

ceiling,  and  crimson  velvet  and  gold  screen,  embroidered  with  mother- 
of-pearl  by  Elizabeth,  who  was  here  entertained  with  a  masque.  Next 
is  the  Qiieen's  drawing-room,  said  to  have  been  furnished  by  that 
monarch,  and  the  embroidered  satin  which  covers  part  of  the  walls  to 
be  the  work  of  Elizabeth  and  her  maidens.  Amongst  the  most  valu- 
able of  the  portraits  are  those  of  Sir  Philip,  Algernon  (another  famed 
head  of  this  house),  and  Mary  Sydney  (Countess  of  Pembroke),  in  the 
tapestry-room  picture-closet ;  in  the  gallery  there  are  choice  portraits, 
landscapes  and  various  subjects  by  Rubens  and  other  great  masters, 
cabinets,  &c.,  presents  from  Royal  and  distinguished  personages  ;  in- 
cluding a  large  cabinet,  with  paintings  and  brass  and  gilt  ornaments, 
said  to  be  a  present  from  James  I.  Among  the  curiosities  is  the  black 
wooden  cradle  of  the  profligate  Duke  of  Buckingham  ;  with  the  date, 
1583.  Preserved  at  Penshurst  also,  are  several  family  and  historical 
records,  amongst  them  one  of  much  curiosity, — an  inventory  of  furni- 
ture, &c.,  at  Kenilv/orth  Castle,  belonging  to  Robert  Dudley,  Earl  ot 
Leicester.  Another  MS.,  of  the  date  1625,  shows  the  sumptuous 
scale  on  which  hospitality  was  dispensed  in  the  hall  at  Penshurst.  In 
this  household  book  are  the  expenses  in  kitchens,  larders,  buttes,  cellars, 
brewehouse,  laundries,  fuel,  &c.  In  one  week,  the  expenses  are  as 
under :  —  Kitchen  —  for  flesh,  poultry,  butter,  eggs,  and  grocery, 
29/.  17J.  \Qd. ;  pantry  and  cellar — in  bread,  beer,  sack,  claret,  &c., 
14/.  13J.  \od.\  laundry — soap  and  starch,  u.  \\d.\  fuel,  in  charcoal 
and  billets,  3J.  9^/. :  this  is  at  the  rate  of  upwards  of  2200/.  a  year. 
In  the  book  mentioned  the  number  and  names  of  the  guests  assembled 
on  each  day  are  given ;  and  it  seems  not  unusual,  in  addition  to  the 
certain  party,  to  have  a  small  company  of  thirty  or  forty  neighbours 
dropping  in.  From  each  corner  of  the  dais  staircases  lead  to  the  state 
apartments,  and  another  passage  conveniently  to  the  cellar. 

The  grounds  at  Penshurst  are  very  extensive,  and  were  originally  laid 
out  in  the  formal  taste  of  the  trim  hedge,  the  evergreen  wall  and  arch, 
and  geometrical  bed  ;  the  basin  and  its  fountain,  the  straight  walk  and 
pleasant  green.  In  the  outer  park  to  this  day  is  a  heronry.  Here  too 
is  the  fine  large  oak  tree  said  to  have  been  planted  at  Sir  Philip  Sydney's 
birth.  Its  bole  measures  about  28  feet  in  circumference.  Waller  thin 
refers  to  the  planting  of  this  tree: — 

"  Go,  boy,  and  carve  this  passion  on  the  bark 
Of  yonder  tree,  which  stands  the  sacred  mark 
Of  noble  Sydney's  birth  ;  when  such  benign — 
Such  more  than  mortal-making  stars  did  shine; 
That  there  it  cannot  but  for  ever  prove 
The  monument  and  pledge  of  humble  love. " 


2oS  Knole  Park,  and  Buckhiirst. 

Ben  Jonson  thus  alludes  to  this  tree,  in  his  Forest: — 

"  Thou  hast  thy  walks  for  health  as  well  as  sport, 
Thy  mount  to  which  the  Driads  do  resort, 
When  Pan  and  Bacchus  their  high  feasts  have  made 
Beneath  the  broad  beech  and  the  chesnut  shade. 
That  tall  tree,  too,  which  of  a  nut  was  set, 
At  his  great  birth,  where  all  the  muses  met." 

In  a  poem  by  E.  Coventry  are  these  lines: — 

"  What  genius  points  to  yonder  oak  ! 
What  raptures  does  thy  soul  invoke  i 
There  let  me  hang  a  garland  high, 
There  let  my  muse  her  accents  try  ; 
Be  there  my  earliest  homage  paid, 
Be  there  my  latest  vigils  made  : 
For  thou  wast  planted  in  the  earth 
The  day  that  shone  on  Sydney's  birth." 

The  identity  of  this  tree  if,  however,  questionable;  Collins,  the  poet, 
who  died  in  1756,  tellb  us  that  this  tree  was  remaining  in  the  park  in 
his  time,  and  called  Bean  Oak.  There  is  no  well  ascertained  tradition 
relating  to  it.  In  another  part  of  the  park  there  was  an  ancient 
oak,  hollow,  within  wliich  six  persons  could  stand  with  ease. 

Of  more  special  interest  is  the  chair,  which  is  said  to  have  been  the 
accustomed  seat  of  Sir  Philip  Sydney.  This  piece  of  old-fashioned 
furniture,  now  in  the  possession  of  James  Sedgwick,  Esq.,  came 
originally  from  the  mansion  at  Penshurst,  having  been  bought  at  a  sale 
of  old  moveables  there  by  an  inhabitant  of  the  neighbourhood  upwards 
of  a  century  ago.  It  is  not  remarkable  for  costliness  of  material  or 
beauty  of  design  or  workmanship ;  its  only,  or  at  least  its  main,  value 
being  dependent  upon  the  tradition  which  associates  it  with  tlie  author 
of  the  Arcadia. 


Knole  Park,  and  Buckhurst. 

The  mansion  and  demesne  of  Knole,  near  Scvenoaks,  was  possessed  in 
the  reign  of  King  John  by  Falcatin  de  Hrent,  and  in  its  manorial  descent 
was  successively  transferred  to  William  Marshal,  Earl  of  Pembroke; 
Roger  Bigod,  Earl  of  Norfolk ;  Otho  de  Grandison,  temp,  Edward  I. ;  Sir 
GcoflVey  de  Say,  temp.  Edward  III.;  Rauft:  Lcghe,  temp.  Henry  VI., 
who  sold  the  property  to  the  Eicnneses,  Lords  Say  and  Sele,  the 
second  of  whom  again  disposed  of  it  for  400  marks  to  Thomas 
Bourchier,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  rebuilt  the  mansion.  Hence- 
forth it  continued  for  some  years  the  chief  seat  of  the  Archbishops, 
and  was  visited  by  Henries  VII.  and  VIII.     Cranmer  relinc^uished  thiA 


Kiiole  Park,  and  BtickJiurst.  309 

with  other  property  belonging  to  the  metropolitan  see  to  the  monarch  ; 
and  Knole  was  subsequently  granted  to  the  Protector  Somerset.  John 
Dudley,  Earl  of  Warwick,  was  the  next  possessor.  Queen  Mary 
granted  it  to  her  kinsman,  Cardinal  Pole ;  and  Queen  Elizabeth  ccm- 
ferred  it  on  Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester.  Thomas  Sackville,  Baron  Buck- 
hurst,  afterwards  Earl  of  Dorset,  became  proprietor  of  Knole  in  1603? 
he  was  a  statesman  as  well  as  poet,  and  died  whilst  sitting  at  the  council 
board  in  1608.  He  had  previously  greatly  improved  Knole;  hciss<'iid 
to  have  constantly  employed  200  workmen  there;  the  bead-work  and 
carved  screen  in  the  hall  bear  his  arms  and  the  dates  1605  and  1607. 
His  grandson,  Richard,  the  third  Earl,  who  married  the  celebrated 
Anne  Clifford,  wasted  his  fortune,  and  parted  with  Knole.  Richard, 
the  fifth  Earl  of  Dorset,  repurchased  the  estate,  which  has  ever  since 
continued  in  the  same  illustrious  family. 

The  mansion  of  Knole,  seated  on  high  ground,  in  a  noble  park,  is  an 
immense  pile  of  buildings,  stated  to  cover  an  area  of  five  acres.  It 
surrounds  three  square  courts.  The  greatest  part  is  of  Archbishop 
Bourchicr's  time,  about  1480  ;  the  latest  of  the  time  of  King  Jamc?  I., 
by  the  first  Earl  of  Dorset.  Knole  has  long  been  famed  for  its  fine 
collection  of  pictures  by  Italian,  Venetian,  Flemish,  and  Dutch  painters. 
The  dining  or  poet's  parlour  has  portraits  of  the  most  eminent  English 
poets,  some  by  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  and  Gainsborough.  The  hall 
has  in  the  fire-place  a  pair  of  and-irons  brought  from  Hever  Castle, 
and  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  Henry  VIII.,  as  they  bear  the  Tudor 
crown  and  H.R.  The  Brown  Gallery  contains  a  series  of  old  portraits 
of  eminent  persons.  The  Great  Gallery  contains  copies  from  the 
cartoons  of  Raphael,  by  D.  My  tens.  The  Colonnade  contains  several 
busts. 

Of  Buckhurst,  the  magnificent  seat  of  the  Sackvilles,  a  solitary 
gatehouse  remains,  indicating  the  style  of  the  house.  A  ground-plan  of 
the  whole  is  preserved  among  a  collection  of  drawings  by  John  Thorpe 
m  the  museum  of  Sir  John  Soane,  in  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields.  Buckhurst 
•was  a  large  quadrangular  mansion  250  by  200  feet;  it  was  placed  at | 
the  edge  of  a  steep  hill,  having  a  moat  with  a  bridge  and  a  broad 
terrace  on  one  side.  The  seat  attained  its  zenith  and  decline  in  the 
time  of  the  first  Earl  of  Dorset,  Lord  Treasurer  to  Queen  Elizabeth, 
who,  according  to  Camden,  being  "equally  eminent  for  prudence  and 
nobility,"  found  it  incompatible  with  his  public  duties  to  travel  so  far 
from  London  as  twenty-eight  miles,  through  "  fowle  ways,"  and 
therefore  obtained  from  his  royal  mistress  a  grant  of  Knole  in  Kent. 
Buckhurst  being  deserted,  was  taken  down  and  its  materials  conveyed 


310  Lesnes  Abbey. 

to  East  Grinstead,  where  a  college  or  hospital  was  built  by  Richard, 
the  third  Earl  of  Dorset,  with  them. 


Lesnes  Abbey. 

The  Abbey  Wood  Station  of  the  North  Kent  Railway  is  named 
from  the  adjoining  wood  which  belonged  to  the  Abbey  of  Lesnes,  ruins 
of  which  still  remain.  In  the  wood  are  vast  quantities  of  chestnuts, 
one  of  the  many  instances  of  that  tree  having  been  the  indigenous 
growth  of  England.  Lesnes  Abbey,  first  called  from  its  situation  the 
Abbey  of  West  Wood,  was  founded  in  the  year  1178,  for  canons 
regular  of  the  Order  of  St.  Augustine,  by  Richard  de  Lucy,  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  IL  The  hill  at  the  back  of  the  Priory  garden,  which 
stood  due  south  in  a  line  with  the  refectory  and  cloisters,  was  covered 
with  a  dense  forest.  The  bams  in  which  the  Prior  stowed  his  sheaves 
rest  on  their  original  foundation  ;  and  the  stews  or  fish-ponds  remain 
on  the  east  side  of  the  Priory.  The  area  of  the  church,  cloisters,  and 
lodgings  of  the  monks  is  a  market  garden.  A  doorway,  apparently  of 
the  time  of  Edward  L,  exists  at  the  south-western  corner  of  the  garden, 
and  seems  to  have  been  the  principal  entrance  into  the  Abbey,  opening 
into  the  cloisters  beneath  the  refectory,  which  stood  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  quadrangle  opposite  the  church,  the  kitchen  adjoining.  The 
dormitory  surmounted  the  cloisters,  and  the  rest  of  the  buildings  con- 
tained the  chapter-house  and  the  conventual  offices.  The  convent 
garden  still  remains,  enclosed  within  its  ancient  boundary-wall. 

The  Abbey  was  suppressed  in  1524,  and  in  1630  became  the  pro- 
perty of  Sir  John  Hippcslcy,  Knight.  He,  according  to  the  account 
transmitted  by  VVecver  in  his  Funeral  Monuments,  appointed  in  1630 
workmen  to  dig  amongst  the  rubbish  of  the  decayed  fiibric  of  the 
church,  which  had  lain  a  long  time  buried  in  ruins,  when  there  was 
discovered  a  monument,  the  full  proportion  of  a  man,  in  his  coat  of 
armour,  his  sword  hanging  at  his  side  by  a  broad  belt,  upon  which  the 
fleur-de-lis  was  engraven  in  many  places,  being,  as  the  writer  imagines, 
a  rebus  or  device  of  the  Lesnes.  The  representation  lay  upon  a  flat 
marble  stone,  over  a  trough  or  coflin  of  smooth  hewn  ashlar  stones, 
while  in  a  sheet  of  lead  were  the  remains  of  an  "ashie-dry  carcase,' 
whole  and  undisjointcd,  and  upon  the  head  some  hair.  There  is  little 
doubt  that  these  were  the  remains  of  Richard  de  Lucy,  the  founder 
of  Lesnes  Abbey.  They  were  burieil,  we  are  told,  by  ordrr  of  Sir 
John  Hippcslcy,  who  caused  a  bay  tree  to  be  planted  near  the  spot. 


Lesnes  Abbey.  JII 

The  reinterment  may  be  questioned,  since  the  figures  could  not  be 
found  when  searched  for  some  years  since,  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Charles 
Stothard,  who  proposed  to  engrave  the  figure  of  Richard  de  Lucy  in 
his  valuable  work,  Monumental  Effigies. 

Weever,  compiler  of  the  Funeral  Monuments,  was  the  rector  of 
Erith  parish  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  The  Monastery  of  Lesnes, 
with  the  church  belonging  thereto,  was  dedicated  to  Saints  Mary  and 
Thomas  the  Martyr,  for  so  Archbishop  Becket  was  called  within  eight 
years  after  his  death.  Godfrey  de  Lucy,  a  near  relation  of  the  founder, 
proved  a  great  benefactor  to  this  house  in  the  reign  of  Edward  \. 
The  Abbey  of  Lesnes  was  one  of  the  first  lopped  off  at  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  its  revenues  of  nearly  260/.  per  annum  went  to  endow 
Wolsey's  new  college  at  Oxford.  After  the  Cardinal's  fall,  the  King 
granted  the  Abbey  estates  to  William  Brereton,  a  gentleman  of  the  Privy 
Chamber,  who,  like  other  sharers  of  Henry's  favours,  had  better  have 
been  quit  of  his  royal  generosity,  for  two  years  afterwards  he  wa? 
executed  on  some  false  charge. 

Henry  VI IL  granted  to  Ralph  Sadler,  gentleman,  the  Monastery  of 
Lesnes,  and  the  Manors  of  Lesnes  and  Fant,  with  all  appurtenances. 
These  manors,  and  the  site  of  the  Abbey,  after  passing  through  different 
hands,  were  conveyed,  in  16 19,  to  Sir  John  Leman,  who  was  Lord 
Mayor  of  London  in  r6i6,  remembered  by  the  splendid  pageant 
exhibited  by  the  Fishmongers'  Company  at  his  inauguration.  Sir 
John  Leman  sold  the  estates  to  Sir  John  Hippesley,  who  was  a 
courtier  of  the  reign  of  Charles  L,  and  the  bearer  of  the  news  of 
Buckingham's  assassination  at  Portsmouth  to  the  King.  By  Sir  John 
Hippesley  the  estates  were  alienated  to  Sir  Thomas  Gainsford,  of 
Crowhurst,  in  Surrey,  who,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  L,  sold  them  to 
Mr.  Hans,  of  London,  when  he,  dying  without  issue,  settled  them  by 
will  for  ever  on  the  Mayor  and  Commonalty  of  London,  as  governors 
of  the  hospitals  of  Bridewell,  Christ  Church,  and  St.  Thomas,  in 
whose  possession  they  continue. 

A  portion  of  the  wall  of  the  Abbey  is  still  to  be  seen,  and  now 
belongs  to  a  farmhouse ;  there  is  also  an  old  thorn  which  has  no 
doubt  existed  for  centuries ;  it  retains  the  name  of  "  the  Abbot's 
Thorn,"  and  now  stands  alone,  a  solitary  memorial  of  past  ages.* 
This  Thorn  may  possibly  be  derived  from  the  more  celebrated 
Glastonbury  thorn,  described  at  page  163  of  the  present  volume. 


*  Abridg:ed  from  an  interesting  Account  of  Erith  and  its  Neighbourhood^ 
published  in  1855. 


3=^2 


Dartford  Nunnery, 

Near  the  town  of  Dartford,  on  the  river  Darent,  are  the  rem^iis  of  a 
Nunnery,  founded  A.D.  1371,  by  King  Edward  III.,  for  Augustine  nuns, 
but  afterwards  occupied  by  Dominicans.  Here  retired  early  in  life  the 
fourth  daughter  of  King  Edward  IV,,  Bridget  of  York,  who  became 
Prioress  here.  At  the  Dissolution,  this  Prioress  and  several  of  the 
nuns  were  of  some  of  the  best  and  most  ancient  families  of  the  county. 
The  buildings  were  then  fitted  up  as  a  royal  palace  for  Henry  VIII,, 
the  keepership  being  granted  to  Sir  Edward  Long.  On  his  death, 
Edward  VI.  granted  the  same  office  to  Lord  Seymour,  the  unfortunate 
brother  of  the  ill-fated  Duke  of  Somerset,  It  was  granted,  the  next 
year,  to  Anne  of  Cleves,  the  divorced  wife  of  Henry  VIII.;  and  on 
her  death,  Queen  Mary  granted  it  to  the  Friars  Preachers,  of  Langley, 
in  Herts.  Elizabeth  kept  it  in  her  own  hands,  and,  during  her  progress 
in  Kent,  sojourned  here.  James  I.  granted  it  to  the  Earl  of  Salisbury, 
who  conveyed  it  to  Sir  Robert  Darcy,  who  named  it  Dartford  Place. 
The  present  remains  of  the  Nunnery  are  of  brick,  and  consist  of  a  large 
embattled  gateway,  with  some  adjacent  buildings  occupied  as  a  farm- 
house. The  nunnery  gardens  and  orchards  occupied  twelve  acre^ 
and  were  surrounded  by  a  stone  wall  yet  entire. 

There  is  a  legendary  account  of  an  earlier  Nunnery  at  Dartford. 
The  Danes,  in  their  piratical  incursions,  frequently  ravaged  the  coast 
of  Kent,  and  sometimes  carried  their  depredations  up  the  country. 
Dartford,  where  was  a  seminary  of  noble  virgins,  which  might  pro- 
bably have  been  founded  by  Ethclbert,  was  ravaged  and  burnt ;  and 
the  tradition  adds  that  among  the  inmates,  who  were  barbarously 
murdered,  was  Editha,  the  daughter  of  a  Saxon  King,  as  told  in  the 

ballad: 

"  '  Revenge  !  revenge  !'  in  accents  hoarse, 
The  Saxon  OfTa  cried, 
As  he  pursued  his  anxious  course, 
Along  the  Darent's  side. 

•'  Bet  ray 'd  by  friendship  and  by  love, 

Wliile  blood  bounds  through  my  veins. 
I  vow,  'fore  all  the  powers  above, 
Kierce  vengeance  on  the  Danes. 

"  Revenge  !  revenge  !  my  soul  inspire*— 
To  loved  lulitha's  manes, 
I  vow,  till  fleeting  breath  expires, 
I'cU  vengeance  on  the  Danes," 

Ptipe  celebrates  the  Darent,  in  allusion  to  a  battle  fought  upon  it» 

bankH,  at 

•'  Silent  Darent,  staln"d  v/ith  Danish  blood  I" 


x^ 


I 


D^ 


313 


Allington  Castle,  and  the  Wyatts. 

This  ivy-mantled  pile  is  all  that  remains  of  Allington  Castle,  on  luC 
eft  bank  of  the  Medway,  just  below  Maidstone;  but,  with  the  fatality 
which  often  attends  places  of  historical  renown,  this  Castle  is  now 
occupied  as  two  tenements.  It  was  built  by  William  de  Columbariis, 
in  the  reign  of  King  Stephen.  Here  lived  Sir  Henry  Wyatt,  the  father 
of  the  Poet,  a  man  of  high  principles  and  strict  conduct,  of  whom  his 
son  states  that  he  was  deeply  impressed  with  reverence  for  religion ; 
that  there  was  no  man  more  pitiful ;  no  man  more  true  of  his  word ; 
no  man  faster  to  his  friend  ;  no  man  diligenter  nor  more  circumspect ; 
which  thing  both  the  Kings,  his  masters,  noted  in  him  greatly.  His 
attachment  to  the  House  of  Lancaster  brought  him  under  the  dis- 
pleasure of  Richard  HI.,  who  sent  him  into  prison  in  Scotland,  where 
he  was  kept  "  in  irons  and  stocks"  for  upwards  of  two  years,  and  put 
to  the  rack  under  the  eyes  of  the  tyrant. 

As  soon,  however,  as  Henry  VH.  succeeded  to  the  throne,  Sir  Henry 
was  restored  to  liberty,  appointed  to  high  offices,  and  at  the  coronation 
of  Henry  VUI.,  he  was  created  a  Knight  of  the  Bath.  Having  dis- 
tinguished himself  at  the  battle  of  the  Spurs,  he  was  made  a  Knight 
Banneret  on  the  field.  He  held  the  office  of  Keeper  of  the  King's 
Jewels  and  King's  Ewerer;  and  in  1527,  entertained  the  King  at 
Allington  Castle,  which  he  had  purchased  in  1493.  Here  Thomas 
W\att,  the  poet,  was  bom  in  1503.  As  an  elegant  courtier,  and  a 
statesman  of  greit  sagacity  and  integrity,  he  takes  a  prominent  position 
in  the  history  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VHI.,  who,  in  1542,  created  him 
steward  of  the  King's  manor  of  Maidstone.  The  brief  remainder  of  his 
life  he  passed  in  retirement  at  Allington ;  hunting,  and  hawking,  and 
shooting  with  the  bow,  and  in  bad  weather  devoting  himself  to  the  study 
and  composition  of  verses ;  but  he  died  October  1 1.  1542,  of  fever, 
brought  on  by  his  zeal  in  attending  an  unexpected  summons  from  his 
sovereign.  Wyatt  has  left  us  writings  both  in  prose  and  verse;  but 
taking  into  account  the  time  at  which  he  wrote,  his  prose  is  the  more 
remarkable.  How  meanly  Wyatt  estimated  the  courtier'g  lifi^  be 
thus  sings : — 

"  In  court  to  serve  decked  with  fresh  array, 

Of  sugar'd  meats  feeling  the  sweet  repast, 
The  hfe  in  banquets  and  sundry  kinds  of  play ; 

Amid  the  press  the  worldly  looks  to  waste  ; 

Hath  with  it  join'd  ofttimes  such  bitter  taste 
That  whoso  joys  such  kind  of  life  to  hold, 
In  prison  joys,  fetter'd  with  chains  of  gold," 


314  Leeds  Castle. 

\^'^yatt's  satires  are  curious  and  valuable,  as  pictures  of  the  habits  of 
a  country  gentleman  of  the  sixteenth  century,  who  divided  his  leisure 
between  the  sports  of  the  field  and  the  delights  of  his  library.  Between 
his  domestic  affairs,  his  poetry,  and  the  improvements  he  made  upon 
his  estates,  there  was  no  lack  of  active  occupation  during  his  residence 
at  AUington  Castle. 


Leeds  Castle. 

Near  Maidstone,  in  the  middle  of  the  county  of  Kent,  rising  out  of 
a  broad  sheet  of  water,  stands  a  large  Castle  that  was  once  the  residence 
and  property  of  the  good  Queen  Eleanor.  It  was  then  either  a  Nonnan 
building,  or  a  Saxon  fortress  with  Norman  extensions ;  but  Eleanor's 
gallant  husband's  additions  give  it  an  Edwardian  character.  It  first 
passed  into  the  hands  of  Eleanor's  successor,  Margaret,  the  second  queen 
of  Edward  I.  "William  of  Wykeham  possessed  the  Castle.  Froissart 
visited  it,  in  company  with  Sir  Thomas  Percy  and  Sir  William  de 
Lisle,  and  has  recorded  his  stay  at  the  "  beautiful  palace,"  and  his  kind 
reception  by  King  Richard  II.  Then  we  find  Henry  VIII.  building 
more  accommodation  for  one  of  his  wives  and  her  maids  of  honour. 
Next  it  was  in  the  possession  of  the  famous  Lord  Colepepper,  the 
friend  of  Charles  II. ;  and  Evelyn  arranged  for  the  keeping  here  of  some 
six  hundred  Dutch  prisoners  entrusted  to  his  care.  Next  it  passed  into 
the  possession  of  the  Fairfax  ftimily ;  and  finally  George  III.  and 
Queen  Charlotte  visited  the  Castle,  and  recorded  the  event  in  the 
family  Bible. 

The  Castle  stands  on  two  islands,  in  a  sheet  of  water  about  fifteen 
acres  in  extent,  these  islands  being  connected  by  a  double  drawbridge. 
It  consists,  therefore,  of  two  huge  piles  of  buildings,  which,  with  a 
strong  gatehouse  and  barbican,  form  four  distinct  forts  or  divisions, 
capable  of  separate  defence  after  cither  fell  into  the  hands  of  an  enemy  ; 
and  the  water  was  so  managed  as  to  pass  between  these  several  build- 
ings in  three  places. 

The  first  outwork,  or  barbican,  contained  the  mill ;  then  an  outer 
ditch,  called  the  inner  barbican.  These  two,  taken  together,  not  only 
formed  the  dam  which  kept  the  water  in  the  moat,  but  they  were 
strengthened  with  a  ditch  round  the  inner  barbican,  over  and  above 
the  wide  moat  which  yawned  between  this  outwork  and  the  entrance 
to  the  Castle.  At  the  end  of  the  bridge  giving  access  to  the  main 
portion  of  the  fortress,  stands  the  gatehouse,  which  is  attributed  to 
the  reign  of  Henry  III. 


Leeds  Castle.  31^ 

The  area  of  the  island  was  divided  into  an  inner  and  outer  bailey. 
The  massive  inner  wall  has  disappeared,  but  the  foundations  remain ; 
the  outer  bailey  was  surrounded  by  a  lower  wall,  strengthened  with 
bastions  and  towers,  believed  to  be  the  work  of  Edward  I.  There  are 
traces  of  several  ancient  buildings,  besides  the  residence  of  the  lord  of 
the  place  on  this  island,  but  the  only  one  standing  within  the  inner 
bailey  is  the  Maiden's  Tower. 

The  entrance-tower,  called  in  old  records  the  Tower  of  the  Gloriette, 
has  a  curious  old  bell,  with  the  Virgin  and  Child,  St.  George  and  the 
Dragon,  and  the  Crucifixion  depicted  upon  it,  which  is  used  as  a 
curfew ;  that  custom  having  been  maintained  from  the  days  of  the 
Crevecoeurs,  the  owners  of  the  Castle  before  it  became  the  property  of 
Queen  Eleanor.  And  there  is  also  a  very  ancient  clock  which  strikes 
on  this  bell,  supposed  to  be  of  the  same  age.  Then,  passing  through 
the  flat-headed  trefoikd  archway  of  this  tower,  you  come  upon  the 
chapel  built  or  improved  by  Edward  I. 

Most  of  the  rest  of  the  work  forming  the  old  Castle,  save  the  outer 
shell,  was  the  work  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  consisted  of  timber  and 
plaster,  with  large  oak  or  chestnut  windows  and  handsome  cornices. 
But  the  prisoners  whom  Evelyn  lodged  here,  either  accidentally  or 
intentionally,  set  fire  to  this  part  of  the  fabric.  Lord  Fairfax  rebuilt 
some  of  the  injured  parts,  especially  the  banqueting-hall,  leaving  the 
original  doorway,  and  fireplace,  with  the  Royal  arms  and  supporters  of 
the  House  of  York  on  the  spandrels  and  windows.  The  banqueting-hall 
is  now  a  kitchen.  In  this  kitchen,  wherein  the  dinner  for  the  ban- 
queting-hall was  prepared  when  King  Harry  feasted  in  it,  there  is  a 
fireplace  with  its  chimney  divided  into  two  flues  with  a  window 
between  them,  that  appears  to  have  been  made  by  him.  In  the  Castle 
was  found  a  pair  of  fire-dogs  which  formerly  belonged  to  Henry  VIII., 
and  bear  the  Tudor  crown,  &c.  There  were  also  a  buttery  and  pantry, 
besides  accommodation  for  the  stowage  of  provisions  in  the  event  of  a 
gan'ison  occupying  it  during  a  siege.  There  was  a  sally-port,  too, 
opening  on  to  the  moat  from  the  foot  of  a  newel  staircase,  which  is 
still  there,  with  its  flight  of  steps  descending  below  the  present  level  of 
the  water. 

The  Maiden's  Tower  is  built  upon  the  wall  of  the  outer  bailey,  and 
thence  projects  into  the  inner  bailey.  It  is  a  large  quadrangular  three- 
storied  tower  finished  with  battlements  ;  but  a  drawing  of  it  on  an  old 
plan  of  the  estate  shows  that  the  roof  was  once  gabled.  The  ground- 
floor  contains  the  brewhouse,  in  which  is  a  very  wide  chimney,  thought 
to  have  been  required  for  the  heating  of  many  large  cauldrons  of  water 


3i6  Leeds  Castle. 

at  a  time,  before  the  introduction  of  coppers  with  flues.  There  appear 
to  have  been  two  staircases  and  two  sets  of  rooms  above ;  and  two 
garderobes  still  exist,  from  which  circumstance  it  is  concluded  it  was 
occupied  by  several  persons,  probably  guests,  though  not  necessarily 
the  maids  of  honour,  with  whom  tradition  has  associated  it. 

There  were  vineyards  attached  to  Leeds  Castle  in  the  days  of  Queen 
Eleanor,  and  wine  made  from  them.  The  expense-rolls  of  that  lady's 
executors  mention  various  sums  paid  to  a  vine-dresser.  No  vines  are 
now  grown  for  wines.  But  at  the  cottages  in  the  locality  are  still  to 
be  seen  vines  bearing  "  black  cluster"  grapes,  clusters  thought  to  be 
descendants  of  those  with  which  Queen  Eleanor  made  wine  in  1290. 
The  expense-rolls  show  that  on  the  anniversary  of  the  Queen's  death 
a  sum  equal  to  between  300/.  and  400/.  of  our  money  was  spent  in 
memorial  ceremonies  at  this  Castle.* 

The  present  fortress  was  either  built  or  rebuilt  by  Sir  Hugh,  or 
Hamo,  de  Crevecoeur,  one  of  the  eight  Captains  of  Dover  Castle,  in  the 
y^r  1071  :  his  son  forfeited  the  estate  by  his  siding  with  the  rebellious 

Tons.    The  Castle   was   then   bestowed   by  King   Henry  HI.  on 

obert  de  Leyboume,  in  exchange  for  other  lands.  It  was  next 
ranted  by  King  Edvvard  II.  to  Bartholomew,  Lord  Badlesmere,  who 
had  been  at  the  wars  in  the  Holy  Land,  but  he  died  on  the  scaffold 
at  home.  The  cause  of  his  ruin  is  differently  related ;  the  following 
relation  is  by  a  contemporary  noble  person :  "  Queen  Isabel  came  to  the 
Castle  at  Leeds,  about  Michaelmas,  1321,  where  she  had  designed  to 
lodge  all  night,  but  was  not  suffered  to  enter.  The  King,  highly 
resenting  this,  as  done  in  contempt  of  him,  called  together  some  neigh- 
bouring inhabitants  out  of  Essex  and  London,  and  gave  them  orders 
to  besiege  the  Castle.  Bartholomew  de  Badlesmere,  who  had  left  his 
wife  and  sons  there,  was  gone,  with  other  barons,  to  spoil  the  estate 
of  Hugh  de  Spenser.  The  besieged,  in  the  meantime,  despairing  of 
succour,  the  barons  and  their  associates  came  as  far  as  Kingston,  and 
with  the  mediation  of  the  Bishop  of  London  and  tlie  Earl  of  Pembroke, 
petitioned  the  King  to  raise  the  siege,  promising  to  surrender  the 
Castle  into  his  hands  after  the  next  Parliament.  But  the  K'ng,  con- 
sidering that  the  besieged  could  not  hold  out  long,  and  moreover 
incensed  at  this  their  contumacy  (and,  doubtless,  provoked  at  what 
was  done  against  Spenser),   would  not  listen  to  the  petition  of  the 

•  The  above  details  of  this  extraordinary  Castle  are  quoted  in  the  Builder 
rrviow  of  The  History  itnd  Description  of  Leeds  Castle,  Kent.  By  C'.luirles 
\V)ktl);im  Miiriin,  l's(|.,  M.!'.,  I.S.A.,  ilu;  present  proprietor,  wlio  is  de- 
■ccudcd  fruin  tlie  fuinily  uf  William  of  Wykelioiik 


Saltwood  Castle, 


317 


Barons.  After  they  had  dispersed  themselves  to  other  parts,  he  gained 
the  Castle  (though  with  no  small  difficulty),  and  sending  Badlesmere's 
wife  and  sons  to  the  Tower  of  London,  hanged  the  rest  that  were  in 
the  place."  This  lord  being  taken  prisoner  next  year,  was  beheaded 
at  Canterbury.     But,  this  is  told  with  a  difference. 

Among  the  memorable  events  at  Leeds  Castle  were  the  follow- 
ing: In  132 1,  Queen  Isabella  being  refused  admission  into  the  Castle 
when  on  a  pilgrim:ige  to  Canterbury,  the  King  (Edward  II.)  took  the 
place  by  siege,  and  hung  the  Governor,  Thomas  de  Colepepper,  oy  the 
chain  of  the  Castle  drawbridge.  In  1406,  Henry  IV.  retired  here  on 
account  of  the  plague  in  London ;  and  within  these  walls  Joan  of 
Navarre,  second  consort  of  Henry  IV.,  was  held  in  captivity  for  having 
conspired  against  her  son-in-law's  life,  until  conveyed  to  Pevensey 
Castle.  In  1441,  at  Leeds  Castle,  Chichele,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, presided  at  the  process  against  Eleanor,  wife  of  Humphrey,  the  j  "V^ 
good  Duke  of  Gloucester,  for  sorcery  and  witchcraft. 


Saltwood  Castle. 

This  famous  fortress,  situate  about  one  mile  north-west  from  Hythe, 
has  been  attributed  to  the  Romans,  though  on  insufficient  authority ; 
but  there  is  a  paved  way  "  made  after  the  Roman  manner,  and 
carried  not  only  as  far  as  the  Castle,  but  a  mile  further.  Kilburn  says 
that  it  was  erected  by  Oesc,  son  of  Hengist;  and  Grose  states  that  "  on 
examining  these  ruins  every  one  of  them  evidently  appears  to  have  been 
laid  by  the  Normans."  The  principal  buildings  now  standing  are, 
however,  of  a  much  later  date,  and  in  a  different  style  of  architecture 
to  what  was  in  use  among  that  people.  Hugo  de  Montfort,  who  pos- 
sessed this  manor  at  the  time  of  the  Domesday  Survey,  is  said  to  have 
repaired  the  Castle ;  yet,  as  it  is  not  noticed  in  Domesday  Book,  though 
the  church  itself  is  mentioned,  which  comparatively  must  have  been  of 
much  less  importance,  the  probability  is  that  the  Castle  was  not  then 
built ;  therefore,  if  Hugo  de  Montfort  had  any  concern  in  the  build- 
ings here,  he  must  himself  have  been  the  founder.  Hasted  states  that 
it  was  rebuilt  by  Henry  de  Essex,  Baron  of  Ralegh,  and  standard-bearer 
to  Henry  II.,  in  right  of  inheritance,  who  held  it  of  the  Archbishop  ot 
Canterbury,  yet  his  authority  for  this  assertion  does  not  appeal 
"  Henry  de  Essex,"  says  Philpot,  from  Matthew  Paris,  "  having,  in  a 
light  skirmish  against  the  Welsh  in  Flintshire,  not  only  cast  away  his 
courage  but  his  standard  also,  was  appealed  of  hii^h  treason  (by  Robert 


3i8  Saltivood  Castle. 

de  Montfort),  and  in  a  legal  duel  or  combat  was  vanquished  by  his 
challenger  (but  his  life  being  preserved  by  the  clemency  of  the  King) 
and  being  possessed  with  great  regret  and  shame  contracted  from  his 
defeat,  shrouded  himself  in  a  cloistery  (at  Reading)  and  put  on  a 
monk's  cowl,  forfeiting  a  good  patrimony  and  livelihood,  which 
escheated  to  Henry  II.  But  Thomas  Becket  acquainting  the  King  that 
this  manor  belonged  to  his  church  and  see,  that  prince  being  beyond 
the  seas,  directed  a  writ  to  King  Henry,  his  son,  for  restitution ;  yet, 
in  regard  of  new  emergent  contests  between  the  King  and  that  in- 
solent prelate  it  was  not  restored  unto  the  Church  until  the  time  of 
Richard  II." 

Tiiough,  from  what  has  been  said,  it  is  evident  that  the  exact  era  of 
the  foundation  of  this  Castle  is  extremely  questionable,  it  is  equally 
clear  that  it  must  have  been  built  before  the  contumacy  of  Becket 
obliged  the  King  to  exert  his  authority  against  that  ambitious  priest ; 
and  it  was  this  fortress  tliat  the  conspirators  against  the  life  of  Becket 
made  their  point  of  rendezvous  immediately  previous  to  his  assassina- 
tion. Philpot  mistook  in  asserting  that  Saltwood  was  retained  by  the 
Crown  till  the  time  of  Richard  II.,  for  King  John  in  his  first  year 
restored  it  to  the  See  of  Canterbury,  to  be  held  of  him  in  capite ;  and  it 
afterwards  became  an  occasional  abode  or  palace  of  the  Archbishops 
till  the  period  of  the  Dissolution. 

Archbishop  Courteney,  who  was  promoted  to  the  See  of  Canterbury 
in  the  5th  of  Richard  II.,  expended  great  sums  in  the  buildings  of  this 
Castle,  to  which  he  annexed  a  park,  and  made  it  his  usual  place  of 
residence.  His  arms  are  still  remaining  over  the  principal  entrance  on 
two  shields,  namely,  three  torteaux  with  a  label  of  three  points,  and 
the  same  arms  impaled  with  those  of  the  See  of  Canterbury. 

It  is  related  of  Archbishop  Courteney,  while  he  held  possession  of 
Saltwood  Castle  and  Manor,  some  country  people  having  offended  him 
by  bringing  straw  in  a  slovenly  manner  in  sacks  instead  of  carting  it, 
that  proud  prelate  sent  for  the  ofl'enders  to  Saltwood,  and  after  reprov- 
ing them  for  their  negligence,  he  compelled  them  to  swear  obedience  to 
his  injunctions.  This  being  done  he  commanded  them  all  to  march  in 
solemn  procession  with  their  heads  and  legs  bare,  each  carrying  a  sack 
oT  straw,  which  ajipcared  at  the  mouth  of  the  sack,  but  not  so  as  to  be 
scattered,  by  way  of  penance  for  the  offence  they  had  committed  against 
his  high  dignity.  "Thus,"  says  the  account,  "  did  the  Archbishop 
think  proper  to  set  an  example  to  his  flock  of  the  meekness  and  disposi- 
tion to  forgive  offences  so  strongly  enforced  by  that  religion  which  l«j 
was  bound  to  inculcate." 


Mailing  A  bhcy.  3  f  9 

In  the  31st  of  Henry  VIII.  Archbishop  Cranmer  exchanged  this 
Castle,  park,  and  manor,  with  the  King ;  and  in  the  ist  of  Queen  Mary 
they  were  finally  granted  from  the  Crown  to  Edward  Fynes,  Lord 
Clinton,  soon  after  which  the  park  appears  to  have  been  thrown  open ; 
and  the  Manor  and  Castle  have  since  passed  through  various  families 
by  purchase  and  otherwise  to  William  Deeds,  Esq.,  of  Sandling,  who 
obtained  them  in  exchange  from  Sir  Brooke  Bridges,  Bart.,  of  Good- 
neston. 

The  site  of  the  Castle  is  well  chosen :  the  walls  encircle  an  extensive 
area  of  an  elliptical  form,  surrounded  by  a  very  broad  and  deep  moat 
partly  natural  and  partly  artificial.  The  entrance  into  the  first  court 
was  by  a  gateway,  now  in  ruins,  defended  by  a  portcullis ;  the  outer 
walls  were  strengthened  by  several  circular  and  square  towers,  all  of 
which  are  dilapidated.  In  this  court  are  several  barns,  &c.,  built  out  of 
the  ruins,  the  estate  being  tenanted  as  a  farm.  The  Keep  or  gatehouse, 
which  seems  to  have  been  almost  wholly  rebuilt  by  Archbishop 
Courteney,  is  a  noble  pile,  having  two  lofty  round  towers  flanking  the 
entrance,  over  which,  on  the  summit  of  the  building,  are  machicolations. 
The  entrance-hall  has  been  continued  through  to  the  rear,  which 
opened  into  the  inner  court,  but  is  now  divided  into  two  apartments 
by  fire-places  and  chimneys.  The  front  division  is  vaulted  and  strongly 
groined.  The  principal  ornament  is  the  Tudor  Rose,  which  was, 
probably,  put  up  on  some  addition  being  made  to  Courteney's  works. 
In  each  of  the  round  towers  is  a  hexagon  chamber  and  upper  chamber ; 
the  deep  grooves  of  the  portcullis  are  still  in  good  repair.  The  summit 
of  the  roof  commands  a  most  extensive  view,  to  which  the  white  cliffs  of 
Boulogne  and  the  intermediate  space  of  water,  constantly  animated  by 
shipping,  give  a  strong  interest.  On  the  southern  side  of  the  inner 
court  are  the  ruins  of  the  chapel  and  several  other  buildings;  the 
former  has  been  a  large  and  handsonL?  structure,  probably  of  the  time 
of  Henry  III.  The  walls  of  this  court,  !'ke  the  outer  walls,  are  de- 
fended by  towers  at  different  distances,  and  near  the  middle  of  the  area 
is  an  ancient  well. 


Mailing  Abbey. 

At  the  east  end  of  the  town  of  West  Mailing  are  the  remains  of  a 
Monastery  for  nuns  and  a  Church  built  by  Bishop  Gundulph,  of 
Rochester,  soon  after  his  consecration.  A  part  of  this  Nunnery  was 
destroyed  by  fire  half  a  century  after  Gundulph 's  death,  but  large  por- 
tions undoubtedly  remain  of  his  work.     The  Abbey  is  approached  by 


3  20  Mailing  A  bhey. 

a  venerable  gateway,  through  which  may  be  seen  the  lofty  tower  ot  the 
church.  This  church  was  evidently  built  at  the  same  period  as 
Rochester  Cathedral,  as  it  is  decorated  with  intersected  arches  and 
zigzag  ornaments,  similar  to  those  in  the  west  front  of  that  Cathedral ; 
the  west  end  of  the  church  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  Norman  archi- 
tecture. The  Abbey  was  originally  built  in  1090  for  a  community  of 
Benedictine  nuns,  in  whose  possession  it  remained  until  the  Dissolution 
A  very  singular  fact  in  the  history  of  this  Convent  was  that  when  it  was 
first  founded  there  was  scarcely  an  inhabitant  living  near  it,  but  its 
erection  soon  attracted  so  many  people  that  the  little  village  increased 
in  size  very  rapidly,  so  much  so  that  it  soon  lost  its  ancient  name  of 
Millinges  Parva.  The  Abbey  buildings  formerly  consisted  of  two 
quadrangles  with  cloisters  and  a  spacious  hall,  but  only  one  quadrangle 
is  at  present  to  be  seen.  The  chapel  or  oratory  is  now  used  as  a  dwell- 
ing-house; the  Abbey  itself  was  rebuilt  in  the  Gothic  style  in  1738 
by  the  then  lord  of  the  manor  and  possessor  of  the  Abbey  lands.  On 
the  south  side  of  the  church  evidences  of  an  ancient  burial-ground  have 
from  time  to  time  been  turned  up  in  the  shape  of  human  bones,  rings, 
and  old  coins.  Two  stone  coffins  were  also  found  which  contained 
skeletons,  the  lids  (on  which  no  inscriptions  were  discovered)  were 
ornamented  with  a  cross.  The  Abbey  now  forms  a  commodious  and 
picturesque  residence. 

It  is  worth  while  here  to  note  an  instance  of  the  supernaturalism 
related  as  a  judgment  upon  the  murderers  of  Becket,  at  Canterbury,  and 
known  as  a  popular  tradition  at  South  Mailing  as  late  as  the  fourteenth 
century.  It  is  thus  concisely  narrated  by  Dean  Stanley  in  his  Memorials 
of  Canterbury  : — "  They  (the  murderers)  rode  to  Saltwood  the  night  of 
the  deed ;  the  next  day  (thirty  miles  by  the  coast)  to  South  Mailing. 
On  entering  the  house  they  threw  off  their  arms  and  trappings  on  the 
dining-table,  which  stood  in  the  hall,  and  after  supper  gathered  round 
the  blazing  hearth.  Suddenly  the  table  startctl  back  and  threw  its 
burthen  to  the  ground.  The  attendants,  roused  by  the  crash,  rushed 
in  with  lights,  and  replaced  the  arms.  But  a  second  and  still  louder 
crash  was  heard,  and  the  various  articles  were  thrown  still  further  off. 
Soldiers  and  servants  with  torches  scrambled  in  vain  under  the  solid 
table  to  find  the  cause  of  its  convulsions,  till  one  of  the  conscience- 
itricken  knights  suggested  that  it  was  indignantly  refusing  to  bear  the 
sacrilegious  burthen  of  their  arms — the  earliest  and  nK)st  memorable 
awtance,"  says  Dr.  Stanley,  "  of  a  rapping,  leaping,  and  moving  tabl«i.'* 


321 


Faversliam  Abbey. 

The  town  of  Faversham,  which  is  a  member  of  the  Cinque  Port  of 
Dover,  is  situated  in  a  navigable  inlet  of  the  Thames,  called  the  Swale, 
which  forms  the  southern  boundary  of  the  Isle  of  Sheppey.  It  was  of 
Saxon  origin,  and  was  granted  to  the  see  of  Canterbury  by  Cenulph, 
King  of  Mercia,  in  812.  Here,  about  630,  King  Athelstan  assembled 
a  Wittenagemot,  or  Council  of  wise  men.  It  is  probable  that  the 
Saxon  Kings  had  a  palace  here  long  prior  to  the  Conquest.  The 
manor  and  hundred  were  granted  by  King  Stephen  to  William  de 
Ipres,  whom  that  monarch  created  Earl  of  Kent  for  his  faithful  services 
against  the  Empress  Maud.  Sometime  afterwards,  King  Stephen 
built  and  endowed  here  an  Abbey  for  Cluniac  monks.  At  the  Disso- 
lution, the  greater  part  of  the  monastic  buildings  were  pulled  down. 
The  site  of  the  Abbey,  with  some  adjoining  lands,  was  then  granted  to 
Sir  Thomas  Cheyney,  Lord  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports.  That  noble- 
man about  five  years  afterwards  alienated  his  grant  to  Thomas  Ardem, 
gent.,  who  was  Mayor  of  Faversham  in  1548,  and  on  February  15, 
ir^fyO,  was  basely  murdered  in  his  own  house  by  the  contrivance  of  his 
wife,  Alice  (an  adulterous  wanton),  who  was  afterwards  burnt  at 
Canterbury  for  the  crime;  six  of  her  accomplices,  including  two 
females,  were  also  punished  with  death  for  the  same  offence,  but  two 
others,  one  of  whom  had  been  brought  from  Calais  to  execute  the 
murder,  escaped.  The  play  of  Ardern  of  Fa'versham,  which  was 
written  by  Lillo,  and  first  printed  in  1592,  was  founded  on  this  murder, 
which  is  fully  described  in  the  Wardmote  Book  of  Faversham.  The 
house  in  which  Ardem  was  murdered  adjoined  the  entrance  gateway 
of  the  Abbey. 

In  the  Abbey  Church  were  deposited  many  worthy  persons;  in- 
cluding those  of  the  founder.  King  Stephen,  Maud,  his  Queen,  a  liberal 
benefactor,  and  Eustace,  their  eldest  son ;  but  at  the  Dissolution,  for 
the  sake  of  the  lead  wherein  the  King's  body  was  incoftined,  his  sacred 
remains  were  dislodged  and  thrown  into  the  neighbouring  river.  The 
latter  circumstance  is  somewhat  doubtful,  for  the  King's  body  is  said  to 
have  been  reinterred  in  the  parish  church.  Robert  of  Gloucester  says 
that  "  a  peece  of  ye  Holy  Cross"  was  preserved  in  this  Monastery, 
"  which  Godfi-ey  Boylen  for  kyndred  had  sent  to  King  Stephen." 

Favei-sham  has  been  visited  by  many  of  our  sovereigns.  Mary, 
Queen  of  France,  and  sister  of  Henry  VIII.,  passed  through  the  town 
in  May,  1515,  when  ihe  expenses  of  the  "  brede  and  wine"  given  to 


322  Favcrskam  Abbey. 

her  are  stated  at  ^j.  dd.  Henry  VIII.  and  his  Queen,  Catherine  of 
Aragon,  were  here  in  1519,  with  Cardinal  Wolsey,  and  Warham, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  when  "  the  spiced  brede  and  wine"  for  the 
latter  came  to  5J.  a,d.\  "the  spiced  brede,  wine,  and  capons,"  for  my 
Lord  Cardinal,  to  j  8j.  (^d. ;  and  "  the  spiced  brede,  wine,  beer,  and 
ale,"  for  the  King  and  Queen,  to  i/.  ds.  r^\d.  Henry  was  again  in  this 
town  in  the  year  1522,  with  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  whom  he  was 
conducting  to  Greenwich,  with  a  numerous  retinue,  on  which  occasion 
the  expenses  of  his  entertainment  were  charged  at  i/.  3J.  3^.,  exclusive 
of  a  gallon  of  wine  to  the  Lord  Archoishop,  which  cost  one  shilling.  In 
1545,  Henry  slept  one  night  at  Favei-sham,  and  was  presented  with 
•'  two  dozen  of  capons,  two  dozen  of  chekins,  and  a  sieve  of  cherries," 
all  which  are  recorded  at  i/.  15J.  ^d.  Queen  Elizabeth  came  here  in 
1573,  "and  lay  two  nights  in  the  town,"  which  cost  the  town 
44/.  1 9 J.  8^.,  including  a  silver  cup  presented  to  her,  which  cost 
27/.  2s.  Charles  II.  dined  with  the  Mayor  here  in  1660,  and  the 
expense  was  56/.  6j.  In  the  following  year  the  Corporation  presented 
the  King  with  50/. 

In  the  year  1688,  James  XL  was  detained  a  prisoner  three  days  in 
Faversham,  on  his  first  attempt  to  quit  the  kingdom  after  the  landing 
of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  The  nation  was  then  in  a  ferment,  and  all 
were  on  the  alert  to  secure  suspicious  characters,  or  those  who  were 
considered  more  particularly  in  the  interest  of  the  King.  Hence  it 
was  that  the  vessel  in  which  James  had  embarked  was  observed  taking 
in  ballast  at  Shell-ness,  and  was  boarded  by  the  Faversham  sailors, 
who  seized  three  persons  of  quality  in  the  cabin  and  conveyed  them 
on  the  following  morning  (December  12)  to  the  Queen's  Arms  in  this 
town,  where  the  King's  person  was  first  recognised.  He  was  after- 
wards detained  in  the  Mayor's  house,  in  Court-street,  under  a  strong 
guard,  till  Saturday,  the  i6th,  when  he  was  set  at  liberty,  the  Lords  ot 
the  Council  having  invited  him  to  return  to  Whitehall,  and  despatched 
a  guard  of  horse  to  conduct  him  thither.  There  is  great  reason  to 
believe  that  if  James's  apprehension  of  personal  safety  had  not  over- 
powered his  better  judgment,  neither  himself  nor  his  family  would 
have  been  expelled  the  throne;  though  proper  restraints  must  have 
been  devised  for  the  preservation  of  the  Protestant  Religion,  and  the 
rights  of  civil  libe:-ty.  James  finally  quitted  England,  under  a  pass 
granted  by  the  Prince  of  Orange,  on  Saturday,  December  23,  with 
his  natural  son,  the  Duke  of  Berwick.  He  departed  from  Sir  Richard 
Head's  house  at  Rocliestcr  by  a  back  door  about  3  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  was  carried  in  a  barge  to  a  small  vessel  at  Shell-ness, 


Dover  Castle.  323 

the  master  of  which  landed  him  in  France  (whither  the  Queen  had 
previously  gone)  between  Calais  and  Boulogne,  on  the  second  day 
afterwards. 


Dover  Castle. 

The  famous  town  and  Castle  of  Dover  was  formerly  a  place  of  the  ^ 
greatest  importance,  and  accounted  the  key  and  barrier  of  the  island. 
The  name  of  Dover  is  from  the  British  D-vfyrrha,  signifying  a  steep 
place.  The  Saxons  called  it  Dorfa  and  Dofris,  which,  in  Domesday 
Book,  is  softened  into  Dover.  Its  situation,  in  respect  to  the  Continent, 
must  have  rendered  it  a  port  of  consequence  from  the  very  earliest 
period  of  our  history,  and  it  was  a  hill  fort  long  prior  to  the  invasion 
of  Julius  Caesar.  There  is  a  tradition  that  here  Arviragus,  the  British 
chief,  fortified  himself  when  he  refused  to  pay  the  tribute  imposed  by 
Caesar  ;  and  that  here,  afterwards.  King  Arthur  also  held  his  residence. 
Another  tradition  assigns  the  foundations  of  the  fortress  to  Caesar  him- 
ot-'f,  but  this  is  considered  devoid  of  truth,  though  the  ancient  Pharos, 
or  watch-tower,  which  still  remains  in  the  upper  part  of  the  Castle 
Hill,  is  unquestionably  of  Roman  workmanship,  and  it  must  have  been 
one  of  the  first  places  fortified  by  the  Romans.  The  present  height 
of  the  Pharos  is  nearly  forty  feet,  but  the  upper  part  is  of  more  modem 
origin,  most  probably  of  the  time  of  Sir  Thomas  Erpingham,  who 
repaired  it  when  Constable  of  Dover  Castle,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  V., 
his  arms  being  sculptured  on  the  north  front.  Immediately  contiguous 
to  the  Pharos  is  an  ancient  Church,  generally  stated  to  have  been  builf. 
by  King  Lucius  in  the  second  century ;  but  the  walls  are  of  a  much 
later  period,  though  Roman  materials  have  been  worked  up  therein. 
The  church  has  been  recently  restored  by  Government  for  the  garrison, 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Gilbert  Scott. 

The  situation  of  the  Castle,  on  the  summit  of  a  cliff  more  than 
300  feet  in  height,  was  not  overlooked  by  William,  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy, who,  immediately  after  the  bittle  of  Hastings,  took  possession 
of  it.  He  assigned  the  custody  of  it  to  Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  his 
half-brother,  whom  he  created  Earl  of  Kent.  The  Kentishmen  did 
not,  however,  like  their  new  masters,  and  made  an  attempt  to  surprise 
)(^he  fortress,  with  Eustace,  Earl  of  Boulogne,  who  had  crossed  the  sea 
in  the  night,  to  lead"^hem,  well  furnished  with  scaling  ladders.  But 
the  watch  descried  them:  the  soldiers  within  the  Castle  allowed 
them  to  approach  the  wall,  and  while  they  were  attempting  to  scale  it,  the 
soldiers  opened  the  gates  and  sallied  out,  setting  upon  tlie  assailants  with 


y 


"HM^^' 


324  Dover  Castle. 

such  fury  that  they  compelled  Eustace  and  a  few  others  to  return  to  hh 
'ship,  the  rest  being  either  slain  by  the  sword,  destroyed  by  falling  from  the 
cliffs,  or  "  devoured  by  the  sea."  After  this,  Odo  falling  under  the  King's 
displeasure,  was  sent  prisoner  into  Normandy ;  his  possessions  were 
confiscated,  and  the  King  seized  the  Castle  into  his  own  hands,  and 
fortified  it  anew,  appointing  nine  trusty  knights  for  its  defence,  each  of 
whom,  by  tenure  of  lands,  was  bound  to  maintain  one  hundred  and 
twelve  soldiers,  performing  watch  and  ward,  each  in  particular  towers, 
turrets,  and  bulwarks,  which  bore  the  names  of  their  respective 
captains. 

Henry  II.  rebuilt  the  Keep  on  the  Norman  plan,  and  otherwise 
fortified  the  Castle.  Louis  the  Dauphin  besieged  it  to  assist  the  discon- 
tented Barons ;  but  Hubtrt  de  Burgh,  then  Governor,  so  strenuously 
defended  it  with  one  hundred  and  forty  soldiers  only,  exclusively  of  his 
own  servants,  that  the  enemy  retired  after  much  loss.  The  Dauphin 
again  besieged  the  fortress,  temp.  Henry  III.,  when,  failing  to  induce 
Hubert,  by  promises  of  great  honours,  to  deliver  up  the  fortress,  Louis 
raised  the  siege,  and  returned  to  London.  Hubert,  for  his  eminent 
services,  received  grants  of  the  Castle  and  Port  of  Dover,  and  the 
Castles  of  Canteibury  and  Rochester,  during  life,  with  1000  marks 
per  annum  for  the  custody  of  them.  At  this  time  the  Regulations  for 
the  ordering  of  the  Castle  set  forth  that  the  drawbridge  should  be 
drawn  at  sunset. 

Many  alterations  were  made  in  the  fortifications  and  apartments  ot 
Dover  Castle  by  different  sovereigns  till  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  temp. 
Charles  I.,  when  it  was  wrested  from  the  King's  power  by  a  merchant 
named  Drake,  a  partisan  of  the  Parliament ;  and  on  the  night  of  August 
X,  1642,  he  took  it  by  surprise  with  the  aid  of  twelve  men  only.  By 
ropes  and  scaling  ladders,  he  ascended  with  his  party  to  the  top  of  the 
cliff  on  the  sea-side,  which  being  considered  inaccessible,  had  been  left 
unguarded.  He  instantly  advanced,  seized  the  sentinel,  and  threw 
open  the  gates,  when  the  officer  on  duty,  concluding  that  Drake  had  a 
strong  party  and  that  all  was  lost,  surrendered  at  discretion.  Next 
Drake  immediately  despatched  messengers  to  Canterbury,  whence  the 
Earl  of  Warwick  sent  him  1 20  men  to  assist  in  retaining  possession. 
The  King  on  receiving  advice  of  the  loss  of  his  fortress  sent  a  general 
officer  to  reduce  it,  but  the  Parliament  sent  a  superior  force  to  its  relief, 
and  the  Royalists  were  compelled  to  raise  the  siege.  The  fortress  was 
then  left  for  upwards  of  a  century,  when  the  threats  of  invasion  thrown 
out  after  the  French  Revolution,  led  the  Government  to  put  Dover 
Castle  into  a  state  of  strength  sufBciciit  to  withstand  a  regular  siege* 


y 


Dover  Castle.  325 

The  works  constructed  for  its  defence  consist  of  different  batteries 
furnished  with  a  very  formidable  train  of  artillery;  casemates  dug  in  the 
solid  chalk  rock,  magazines,  covered  ways,  and  various  subterranean 
communications,  and  apartments  for  2000  soldiers;  light  and  air  being 
conveyed  by  shafts  and  lateral  opiMiings  through  the  rock  to  the  face  of 
the  cliffs.     Within  the  Keep  is  the  ancient  well  mentioned  in  the  docu- 
ment by  which  Harold  surrendered  the  Castle  to  William  the  Con-  -> 
queror.    This  well  is  said  to  be  370  feet  in  depth ;  and  at  no  great  dis-    :       fsl  uj^ 
tmce,  all  within  the  Saxon  works,  are  three  other  wells,  reported  to  be    !       \jr 
nearly  as   deep.     The  Castle  consists  of  two  wards,   an  upper  and  \    /^ 
lower,  and  occupies  about  35  acres  of  ground.     The  lower  ward  is  sur-  ^ 
rounded  by  an  irregular  wall  or  curtain,  flanked  at  unequal  distances 
by  towers  of  different  forms,  semicircular,  square,  polygonal,  &c.     The 
oldest  is  said  to  have  been  built  by  Earl  Godwin,  and  bears  his  name. 
Nine  of  the  other  towers  were  built  in  the  Norman  times,  and  named 
from  Sir  John  de  Fiennes  and  the  eight  approved  warriors  whom  he 
selected  for  the  defence  of  this  fortress.     The  Constable's  Tower  is  thei  ^ 
principal  entrance  to  the  Lower  Court :  this  entrance  has  a  deep  ditch,  \ 
crossed  by  a  drawbridge,  massive  gates,  portcullis,  &c. 

The  Keep,  or  Palace  Tower,  rebuilt  by  Henry  II.,  is  nearly  similar 
to  that  built  at  Rochester  by  Gundulph ;  it  is  in  fine  preservation,  and 
is  used  as  a  magazine.  In  the  thickness  of  the  wall — from  eighteen  to  \ 
tvventy  feet — run  the  galleries,  so  contrived  as  to  render  it  nearly  im"-  \  ^ 
possible  for  the  arrows  or  missive  weapons  of  an  enemy  to  do  any 
execution  within  them.  The  summit  of  the  Keep  is  embattled,  and  at 
each  angle  is  a  turret ;  the  whole  height  above  low-water-mark.  spring 
tide,  is  465  feet  8  inches.  During  the  last  .war  the  summit  was  made 
bomb-proof,  and  several  sixty-four  pounders  were  mounted  on  the  top. 

Near  the  edge  of  the  cliff  is  a  beautiful  piece  of  brass  ordnance  twenty- 
four  feet  long,  cast  at  Utrecht  in  the  ye:ir  15 14,  and  generally  called 
Queen  Elizabeth's  Pocket  Pistol,  it  having  been  presented  by  the  States  of 
Holland  to  that  sovereign ;  it  carries  a  twelve-pound  shot,  but  is 
entirely  unfit  for  use.  There  are  several  very  curious  devices  upon  it, 
and  some  lines  in  old  Dutch,  which  have  been  thus  translated: — 

"  O'er  hill  and  dale  I  throw  my  Ball ; 
Breaker,  my  name,  of  mound  and  wall." 

Among  the  events  in  the  history  of  the  Castle  are  the  following: 

1156.  Henry  II.  at  Dover,  in  his  way  to  Normandy.    1189.  Richard  I. 
8;iiled  from  Dover  for  Jerusalem  with   100    large   ships    and  eighty     '' 
galleys.     1255.  Henry  III.,  after  concluding  a  peace  with  Spain,  re- 


3^6  Sundown  Castle. 

turned  through  France,  and  landed  at  Dover.  1259.  Richard,  King  of 
the  Romans,  landed  at  Dover,  and  swore  to  assist  the  Barons  in  tbeii 
reformation.  1293.  Dover  Castle  greatly  damaged  by  the  French. 
1491.  Henry  VII.  embarked  at  Dover  to  besiege  Boulogne.  1513. 
Henry  VIII.  embarked  at  Dover  on  board  the  Cinque  Ports  fleet,  and 
left  his  Queen,  Catherine  of  Aragon,  in  the  Castle.  1575.  Queen  v 
Elizabeth  stopped  some  days  at  Dover  Castle,  and  ordered  the  repair 
of  the  walls  and  towers.  1660.  At  Dover,  May  25,  Restoration  ofv 
Charles  II.,  who  landed  with  his  brothers,  the  Dukes  of  York  and 
Gloucester. 


Sandown  Castle. 

On  the  seashore,  a  little  distance  northward  fi-om  Deal,  is  Sandown 
Castle,  built  on  a  similar  plan  to  that  of  the  Castles  of  Deal,  Walmer, 
and  others,  which  the  policy  of  Henry  VIII.  occasioned  him  to  erect  on 
the  different  points  of  the  English  coast  subsequent  to  the  Reformation. 
Lambard,  in  his  Perambulations  in  Kent,  tells  their  history  in  his  quaint 
way:  "  Having  shaken  off  the  intollerable  yoke  of  the  Popish  tyrannic, 
and  espying  that  the  Emperor  was  offended  for  the  divorce  of  Queen 
Katherine,  his  wife,  and  that  the  French  King  had  coupled  tiie  Dol- 
phine,  his  sonne,  to  the  Pope's  niece,  and  married  his  daughter  to  the 
King  of  Scots,  so  that  he  might  more  justly  suspect  them  all,  than 
safely  trust  any  one,  Henry  determined,  by  the  aide  of  God,  to  stand 
upon  his  owne  guardes  and  defence,  and  therefore,  without  sparing  any 
cost,  he  builded  Castles,  Platforms,  and  Block  Houses,  in  all  needefull 
places  of  the  realme  ;  and  amongst  the  other,  fearing  lest  the  ease  and 
advantage  of  descending  on  land,  in  this  part,  would  give  occasion 
and  hardinesse  to  the  enemies  to  invade  him,  he  erected  (neare  to- 
gether) three  fortifications,  wiiich  he  might  at  all  times  keepe  and  be  at 
the  landing  place ;  that  is  to  say,  Sandowne,  Sandgate,  Deal,  and 
Walmere." 

This  fortress  consists  of  an  immense  round  tower  in  the  centre,  con- 
nected with  four  lunettes,  or  semicircular  outworks ;  the  whole 
being  surrounded  by  a  deep  fosse,  and  having  additional  defences  and 
batteries  towards  the  sea.  The  entrance  is  by  a  drawbridge  and  gate 
on  the  land  side.  In  the  lower  part  of  the  central  tower  is  a  large 
vaulted  apartment,  bomb-proof,  for  the  garrison.  The  Castle  is  under 
the  command  of  a  Captain  and  Lieutenant,  who  are  subordinate  to  the 
Lord  Warden  of  the  Cinque  Ports. 

In  this  Castle  the  celebrated  Colonel  John  Hutchinson  died,  aftei 


Folkestone  Castle  and  Nunnery.  327 

eleven  months*  imprisonment,  in  1663.  He  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Long  Parliament,  and  Governor  of  Nottingham  Castle  in  the  time  of 
the  Civil  Wars.  Latterly,  Colonel  Hutchinson's  friends  obtained  per- 
mission from  the  Secretary  of  State  for  him  to  take  a  walk  daily  upon 
the  beach.  Mrs.  Hutchinson  appears  to  have  overcoloured  the  hard- 
ships endured  by  the  Colonel.  Such  overcolouring  is,  however,  ex- 
cusable  in  a  devoted,  idolising  wife  mourning  over  the  loss  of  a  husband 
— and  such  a  husband  as  Colonel  John  Hutchinson. 


Sandgate  Castle. 

In  the  village  of  Sandgate,  near  the  seaside,  is  a  snull  Castle,  built 
by  Henry  VIH.,  about  the  year  1539,  on  a  plan  similar  to  those  of 
Deal  and  Walmer.  It  was  most  probably  erected  on  the  site  of  a 
more  ancient  fortress  which  existed  in  the  time  of  Richard  II.,  who, 
in  his  twenty-second  year,  "  directed  his  writ  to  the  Captain  of  his  Castle 
of  Sandgate,  commanding  him  to  admit  his  Kinsman,  Henry  de  Lan- 
caster, Duke  of  Hereford,  with  the  family,  horses,  &c.,  to  tarry  there 
for  six  weeks  to  refresh  himself."  Queen  Elizabeth  lodged  in  this 
Castle  in  the  year  1588  when  on  her  progress  through  Kent  to  see  the 
coast  put  into  a  proper  state  of  defence  against  the  projected  Spanish 
invasion.  This  edifice  was  greatly  altered  about  1806,  when  a  large 
Martello  Tower  was  built  up  in  the  centre  of  it  in  order  to  combine 
with  other  Martello  Towers  (erected  on  the  contiguous  hills)  in 
defending  this  part  of  the  shore  against  the  landing  of  an  enemy. 
During  the  American  war  several  frigates  were  built  here. 


Folkestone  Castle  and  Nunnery. 

Folkestone,  a  short  distance  from  Sandgate,  was  early  a  place  of 
some  importance.  The  Romans  had  a  tower  here  on  a  high  hill,  of 
the  earthworks  or  entrenchments  of  which  there  are  yet  some  remains. 
Here  was  also  a  Castle  built  by  the  Saxon  Kings  of  Kent,  and  rebuilt 
by  the  Normans,  which  has  been  in  later  times  nearly  all  destroyed, 
tvith  the  cliff  on  which  it  stood,  by  the  encroachments  of  the  sea. 

The  "solemn  old  Nunnery"  mentioned  by  Leland,  was  founded 
by  King  Eadbald  at  the  request  of  his  pious  daughter,  Eanswitha, 
and  is  supposed  by  Bishop  Tanner  to  have  been  the  first  nunnery  ever 
established  in  England.    This  building  was  despoiled  b)  the  Danes, 


32S  W aimer  Castle. 

and  continued  in  ruins  till  after  the  Norman  Conquest,  when  Nigell  de 
Munde\'ille,  Lord  of  Folkestone,  about  the  year  1095,  refounded  it  as 
a  Priory,  or  Cell,  for  Benedictine  Monks,  and  granted  it  to  the  Abbey 
of  Lallege,  or  Lolley,  in  Normandy.  Before  the  middle  of  the  ensuii^g 
century,  the  sea  had  so  far  washed  the  cliff  on  which  the  Priory  stood 
(though  that  had  originally  been  one  mile  from  the  shore),  that 
William  de  Averanche  erected  a  new  Church  and  Prioiy  about  the 
year  1 137.  On  the  suppression  of  the  Alien  Priories  by  Henry  V., 
this  at  Folkestone  was  made  denizen,  and  so  continued  till  it  was 
finally  dissolved  by  Henry  VIII. 

The  ancient  Church  connected  with  the  Nunnery,  and  in  which 
St.  Eanswith,  the  first  Abbess  was  interred,  was  dedicated  to  St.  Peter. 
On  the  rebuilding  of  the  Church  and  Priory  in  the  Norman  times, 
St.  Mary  and  St.  Eanswith  were  made  its  patrons,  the  I'elics  of  the 
latter  being,  at  the  same  period,  solemnly  translated  into  the  new  fabric. 
"  The  author  of  New  Legends  of  England,"  says  Lambard,  "  reporteth 
many  wonders  of  this  woman ;  as  that  she  lengthened  the  beame  of  a 
building  three  foote,  when  the  carpenters,  missing  in  their  measure,  had 
made  it  so  much  too  short ;  that  she  baled  and  drew  water  over  the 
hills  and  rocks  against  nature  from  Swecton,  a  mile  off,  to  her  oratorie 
at  the  seaside ;  that  she  forbade  certaine  rav«ious  birdes  the  country, 
which  before  did  much  harm  thereabouts ;  that  she  restored  the  blinde, 
cast  out  the  divell,  and  healed  innumerable  folkes  of  their  infirmities ; 
and  therefore,  after  her  death,  she  was,  by  the  policy  of  the  Popish 
priestes,  and  follie  of  the  common  people,  honoured  for  a  saint." 
Hasted,  in  his  History  of  Kent,  states  that  the  "  stone  coffin"  of  St. 
Eanswith  was  discovered  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
jind  that,  on  opening  it  "  the  corpse  lay  in  its  perfect  form ;  and  by  it, 
on  each  side,  were  hour-glasses,  and  several  medals  with  obliterated 
letters  on  them." 


* 


Walmer  Castle. 

About  a  mile  southward  from  Deal  is  the  manor  and  parish  of 
Walmer,  which  was  anciently  held  of  Hamo  de  Crevequa-  by  the 
De  Aubervillcs,  by  the  tenure  of  knight's  service.  From  that  family 
the  property  was  conveyed  by  marriage  to  the  Criols,  or  Keriells,  the  last 
of  whom,  Sir  Thomas  Keriell,  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  St.  Albans. 

The  Castle  at  Walmer,  at  some  distance  from  the  village,  is  one  of 
the  seaside  fortresses  erected  by  command  of  Henry  VIII     It  consists 


W aimer  Castle.  ^29 

of  a  large  central  round  tower,  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  considerable 
strength.  There  are  clear  remains  of  a  Roman  entrenchment  close  to 
the  Castle. 

This  fortress  is  appropriated  to  the  Lord  Warden  of  the  Cinque 
Ports;  and  here  Mr.  Pitt,  who  held  that  office,  and  that  of  Colonel  ol 
the  Cinque  Ports  Cavalry,  used  frequently  to  pass  some  of  the  summer 
months.  The  Castle  was  the  official  residence  of  Arthur,  first  Duke 
of  Wellington,  during  his  Wardenship,  or  from  January  29,  1829,  to 
the  hour  of  his  lamented  death,  at  twenty-five  minutes  past  three  o'clock, 
P.M.,  September  14,  1852.  Walmer  was  a  favourite  retirement  of  the 
Duke  many  years  before  he  took  possession  of  the  Castle,  as  Lord 
Warden.  A  house  of  the  better  class  in  Castle-street,  Walmer,  is  to 
this  day  known  as  "the  Duke's  House,"  and  was  for  some  time 
tenanted  by  him  before  entering  on  his  Peninsular  campaigns. 

Walmer  Castle,  according  to  some  authorities,  occupies  the  identical 
spot  whereon  Cassar  landed  nineteen  centuries  since  ;  that  our  modern 
Caesar  should  breathe  his  last  upon  this  spot  is  one  of  those  strange 
coincidences  that  fill  men's  minds  with  special  wonder.  The  fortress 
has  been  well  described  as  "just  the  sort  of  residence  that  would  have 
been  pointed  out  by  an  imaginative  mind  as  appropriate  to  such  an 
event.  Placed  behind  the  high  shingly  beach,  which  the  incessant 
action  of  the  waves  has  formed  on  this  part  of  the  coast,  and  surrounded 
on  the  landward  side  by  lofty  trees,  it  does  not  arrest  notice  by  any 
pretentious  prominence,  and  the  modern  windows  in  the  old  thick 
walls  denote  that  warlike  uses  had  been  laid  aside  for  the  milder  and 
more  peaceful  influences  of  the  times  in  which  we  live.  There  are, 
however,  some  heavy  guns  upon  the  upper  walls  pointed  towards  the 
Downs,  and  below  a  battery  of  smaller  pieces,  that  seemed  to  include 
foreign  invasion  among  the  contingencies  to  which  we  are  still  exposed. 
It  was  a  place  of  strength  built  for  rough  work  in  sttirmy  times.  It  has 
become  a  quiet  seaside  residence,  within  ear-shot  of  the  surf  as  it 
breaks  upon  the  beach,  and  within  sight  of  those  essentially  English 
objects,  the  chalk  cliflTs  of  Dover,  the  Goodwin  sands,  and  the  shipping 
in  the  Downs.  This  was  no  unsuitable  place  for  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton to  die  in — that  man  in  whose  eventful  history  the  largest  experiences 
of  military  and  civil  life  are  so  marvellously  united." 

The  interior  of  the  Castle  is  fitted  up  in  a  remarkably  plain  manner, 
yet  possessing  every  comfort.  When  the  Queen  visited  Walmer  in 
1842  her  Majesty  was  so  charmed  with  the  simplicity  of  the  place,  that 
she  requested  to  be  allowed  to  extend  her  visit  a  week  longer  than  she 
at  first  intended.     When  intimation  was  received  that  the  Queen  in* 


33C>  IValmcr  Castle. 

tended  to  honour  the  Duke  with  a  visit,  the  only  preparation  made  at 
Walmer  Castle  was  to  provide  a  plate-glass  window,  to  enable  her 
Majesty  to  have  a  better  view  of  the  sea.  A  stand  for  a  time-piece  was 
required  for  Prince  Albert,  and  the  Duke  sent  for  a  village  carpenter 
who  made  it  of  common  deal  wocd,  and  it  became  a  fixture  in  the  bed- 
room. Her  Majesty  is  stated  to  have  been  much  delighted  at  this 
simplicity  of  the  Duke. 

The  Duke  regularly  resided  at  "Walmer  Castle  in  September  and 
October  in  each  year.  He  occupied  only  one  room,  which  was  his 
library,  study,  or  bedchamber.  This  was  "  the  Duke's  Room."  It  is 
in  one  of  the  smaller  towers,  of  moderate  size,  and  plainly  furnished, 
methodically  arranged,  something  like  an  officer's  room  in  a  garrison. 
On  the  right  hand  side  stood  an  ordinary  iron  camp-bedstead,  three 
feet  wide,  with  a  horsehair  mattress  about  three  inches  thick,  and  a 
horsehair  pillow,  covered  with  chamois  leather,  which  the  Duke  usually 
carried  with  him,  and  used  in  town  ;  it  was  indeed  part  of  his  luggage. 
Summer  or  winter  the  little  camp  bedstead  was  without  curtains ;  and 
the  German  quilt  (no  blankets)  was  the  covering.  Near  the  bedstead 
was  a  small  collection  of  books — recent  histories  and  biographies,  some 
French  memoirs,  military  reports,  parliamentary  papers — the  last  which 
occupied  the  Duke's  attention  being  a  voluminous  Report  of  the  Oxford 
University  Commission.  In  the  centre  of  the  room  was  a  mahogany 
table  covered  with  papers ;  and  here  for  some  hours  every  day  the 
Duke  sat  and  wrote.  Near  this  was  a  portable  table,  contrived  to  be 
used  for  reading  and  writing  while  in  bed.  These,  with  two  or  three 
chairs,  comprised  the  furniture ;  a  few  common  engravings  hung  upon 
the  neatly-papered  walls ;  and  on  the  mantel-piece  was  a  small  ivory 
statuette  of  Napoleon,  and  a  common  plaster  cast  of  Jenny  Lind.  The 
windows  look  out  upon  the  sea,  and  one  of  the  doors  of  the  room  opens 
opon  the  ramparts.  Until  his  illness,  a  few  years  before  his  death,  the 
Duke  never  failed  to  be  there  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  walked 
for  an  hour  or  more.     The  view  from  the  ramparts  is  very  extensive. 

The  details  of  the  last  hours  of  the  great  Duke  are  very  touching. 
On  Monday  afternoon,  September  13,  it  was  remarked  that  when  the 
Duke  was  returning  fi-om  a  short  walk  he  looked  much  better  than  for 
eome  days  previously.  He  dined  heartily  at  seven  o'clock,  and  instead 
of  retiring  at  ten,  his  usual  hour,  he  sat  up  till  ne.irly  half-past  eleven, 
conversing  with  Lord  Charles  and  Lady  Wellesley.  He  did  not  awake 
until  after  his  usual  time  next  morning,  when  he  awoke  breathing 
rather  heavily,  which  continued  to  be  laboured,  irom  the  accumuiat'on 
of  m'lcus  in  the  bronchial  passages.    This  continuing,  the  apothecary 


The  Monastery  of  St.  Augustine,  at  Canterbury.     331 

fiom  Deal  was  sent  for,  and  arrived  in  about  an  hour.  The  Duke  com- 
plained of  uneasiness  about  the  chest  and  stomach  ;  medicine  was 
ordered ;  during  its  preparation  the  Duke  took  some  tea  and  toast  He 
then  grew  much  worse,  and  had  fits  similar  to  those  he  was  subject  to. 
The  valet  had  applied  a  mustard  poultice  to  the  Duke's  chest,  such  as 
on  former  occasions  had  given  relief.  Three  physicians  were  tele- 
graphed for.  A  mustard  emetic  was  given,  but  this  and  other  measures 
were  of  no  avail.  His  Grace  grew  very  restless,  tried  to  turn  on  his  left 
side,  and  there  were  slight  twitchings  of  the  left  arm.  When  raised  in 
bed  his  breathing  was  much  more  free,  and  he  was  placed  in  an  easy 
chair ;  his  pulse  sank,  and  he  was  now  placed  more  horizontally ;  the 
pulse  rallied  for  a  little  time,  and  then  gradually  declined ;  the  breath- 
ing became  more  feeble;  and  at  twenty-five  minutes  past  three  o'clock 
the  Duke  breathed  his  last.  So  easy  and  gentle  was  the  transition,  that 
for  a  moment  it  was  doubted.  A  mirror  was  held  before  his  Grace's 
mouth ;  its  brightness  was  undimmed,  and  he  was  no  more  I 


The  Monastery  of  St.  Augustine,  at  Canterbury. 

The  city  of  Canterbury,  distinguished  as  the  metropolitan  see  of 
all  England,  acquired  that  honour  in  consequence  of  the  mission  from 
Pope  Gregory  I.  in  596  of  a  body  of  Benedictine  monks,  with  Augus- 
tine at  their  head,  to  Ethelbert  King  of  Kent,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
verting to  Christianity  the  King,  who  was  still  a  Pagan.  In  the  follow- 
ing year,  Ethelbert  was  baptized  at  Canterbury  by  Augustine,  who 
in  one  day  baptized  10,000  Anglo-Saxons  in  the  river  Swale. 

Bede  relates,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  History :  "  Augustine  having  his 
episcopal  see  granted  him  in  the  royal  city,  as  has  been  said,  and  being 
supported  by  the  King,  recovered  therein  a  church,  which  he  was  in- 
formed had  been  built  by  the  ancient  Roman  Christians,  and  conse- 
crated it  in  the  name  of  our  Holy  Saviour,  God  and  Lord,  Jesus  Christ, 
and  there  established  a  residence  for  himself  and  his  successors*  He 
also  built  a  monastery  not  far  from  the  city  to  the  eastward,  in  which, 
by  his  advice,  Ethelbert  erected  from  the  foundation  the  church  of  the 
blessed  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul  (afterwards  called  St.  Augustine's 
Abbey),  and  enriched  it  with  several  donations ;  wherein  the  bodies  of 


•  This  church  is  now  the  Cathedral  of  Canterbury  ;  but  the  present  struc- 
ture, although  ancient,  is  of  date  long  subsequent  to  the  age  of  St.  Augustine. 


332     The  Monastery  of  St.  Augustine,  at  Canterbury. 

the  same  Augustine,  and  of  all  the  Bishops  of  Canterbury,  and  of  the 
Kings  of  Kent,  might  be  buried.  However,  Augustine  did  not  conse- 
crate that  church,  but  Laurentius,  his  successor. 

"  The  first  Abbot  of  that  Monastery  was  the  priest  Peter,  who,  being 
sent  ambassador  into  France,  was  drowned  in  a  bay  of  the  sea  which  is 
called  Amfleat,*  and  privately  buried  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  place ; 
but  Almighty  God,  to  show  how  deserving  a  man  he  was,  caused  a  light 
to  be  seen  over  his  grave  every  night,  till  the  neighbours  who  saw  it,  per- 
ceiving that  he  had  been  a  holy  man  that  was  buried  there,  inquiring  who 
and  from  whence  he  was,  carried  away  the  body,  and  interred  it  in  the 
church,  in  the  city  of  Boulogne,  with  the  honour  due  to  so  great  a  person." 

The  Monastery  is  commonly  believed  to  have  been  founded  origi- 
nally by  the  Saint  whose  name  it  bears :  and  in  a  work  in  the  library  of 
Canterbury  Cathedral,  it  is  stated  that  "  the  ground  thereon  to  build 
was  given  by  grant  to  Augustine  by  King  Ethelbert,  for  dedication  to 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul."  By  later  records  we  find  that  St.  Dunstan,  in 
the  year  978,  renewed  that  dedication,  adding  to  those  of  the  Apostles 
above-named  that  of  St.  Augustine.  In  1173,  at  Canterbury,  Henry  II. 
walked  barefoot  to  the  shrine  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  and  was  scourged 
by  the  monks  of  St.  Augustine;  and  in  11 79,  Louis,  King  of  France, 
landed  at  Dover  as  a  pilgrim,  and  was  met  by  King  Henry,  whence 
they  both  proceeded  in  great  state  to  Becket's  shrine  at  Canterbury. 
In  1389,  Richard  II.,  his  Queen  and  Court,  were  entertained  at  St. 
Augustine's  by  Abbot  Welde,  from  the  octave  of  the  Ascension  to  the 
morrow  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 

In  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  is  a  MS.  styled  Liber 
Cantuarkmis,  which  is  the  history  of  the  foundation  of  the  Augustine 
Monastery  at  Canterbury,  written  on  vellum,  and  beautifully  illumi- 
nated. At  the  Dissolution  of  the  Monastery,  temp.  Henry  VIII.,  it 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  donors  to  the  College,  who,  in  presenting  it, 
added  a  proviso  that,  in  case  the  monks  should  be  again  restored  to 
their  possessions,  the  book  should  return  to  their  hands.  The  passage 
appears  to  have  been  written  by  some  after-reader  and  commentator, 
and  the  date  might,  probably,  be  somewhere  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth 
century. 

After  the  Dissolution,  St,  Augustine's  Abbey  was  converted  to  a 
palace  by  King  Henry  VIII.  Queen  Mary  next  granted  it  to  Cardinal 
Pole  for  life.    Having  reverted  to  the  Crown,  at  the  death  of  Pole, 


*  Now,  probably,  Ambleteuse,  a  small  seaport  village  about  two  miles  to  thn 
oortb  of  Boulogne. 


Canterbury  Castle.  333 

Queen  Elizabeth  kept  her  Court  here  in  1573.  It  was  afterwards 
granted  to  Lord  Gobham,  who  was  attainted  in  1603.  King  James 
granted  it  to  Robert  Cecil,  Lord  Essenden ;  and  soon  afterwards  it 
became  the  property  of  Thomas,  Lord  Walton.  King  Charles  \.  was 
married  here,  13th  June,  1625  ;  and  King  Charles  IL  lodged  here  on 
his  passage  at  the  Restoration.  In  the  Abbey  had  sepulture  Ethelbert 
and  his  Queen  Bertha ;  most  of  his  successors  in  the  kingdom  of  Kent, 
Gt.  Augustine,  and  the  nine  succeeding  Archbishops  of  Canterbury. 

The  Abbey  and  its  precincts  occupied  sixteen  acres  of  ground, 
which  were  enclosed  by  a  wall.  The  fine  gateway  of  St.  Augustine, 
which  formed  the  chief  entrance,  was  long  in  a  dilapidated  state,  but 
has  been  restored.  It  is  a  very  elegant  and  highly  enriched  specimen 
of  this  description  of  ancient  architecture,  and  now  almost  the  only 
remains  of  the  once  celebrated  Abbey.  James  Wyatt  adopted  the 
general  design  of  this  gatehouse  in  the  eastern  towers  of  Fonthill 
Abbey :  its  general  merit  is  the  simplicity  as  well  as  elegance  of  its 
design ;  and  the  enrichments  are  beautiful  mouldings  rather  than 
sculptured  ornaments.  Another  gatehouse  formed  the  opposite  ex- 
tremity of  the  western  front  of  the  Abbey  precinct.  St.  Ethelbert's 
tower,  part  of  the  western  front  of  the  Abbey  church,  recorded  to 
have  been  built  in  1087,  having  been  undermined  for  the  sake  of  the 
very  fine  stone,  fell  down  in  1822.  The  other  remains,  after  being 
shamefully  desecrated,  were  purchased  in  1844  by  Mr.  Beresford  Hope, 
M.P.,  who  has  restored  St.  Augustine's  gateway  and  built  a  Missionary 
College,  which  was  incorporated  June  28,  1848.  At  the  north-east 
angle  of  the  Cemetery  adjoining  is  the  ruined  Chapel  of  St.  Pancras, 
rebuilt  1387  ;  stated  to  have  been  originally  built  before  Augustine 
came  on  his  mission  to  England.  They  said  it  had  formerly  been  the 
place  of  the  King  of  Kent's  idol  worship,  but  was  purified  by  the  Saint 
and  converted  into  a  chapel,  and  was  duly  consecrated.  They  add  that 
the  devil  was  so  much  displeased  at  this  change  that  he  assaulted  the 
chapel  with  all  his  violence,  but  was  not  able  to  overthrow  it ;  yet  he 
left  the  print  of  his  talons  sticking  in  the  walls  of  the  south  porch. 
That  there  are  some  marks  there,  Somner  says,  cannot  be  denied  ;  and 
they  are  probably  occasioned  by  the  ivy  having  eaten  into  the  materials 
of  that  part  of  the  building. 


Canterbury  Castle. 
Among  the  ruins  of  ancient  buildings  at  Canterbury,  on  the  south- 
west side  of  the  City,  near  the  entrance  from  Ashford,  are  the  walls  of 


334  I^J''^  Crispes  of  the  Isle  of  Thanet. 

a  Castle,  supposed  to  have  been  built  by  William  the  Conqueror; 
larger  than  that  of  Rochester,  being  88  feet  by  80  in  dimensions. 
These  remains  appear  to  have  been  the  keep,  or  donjon  of  a  fortress, 
within  which  it  stood,  and  of  which  the  bounds  may  still  be  traced,  like 
those  of  the  Castles  at  Dover,  Rochester,  and  the  White  Tower  of 
London,  the  building  being  much  in  the  same  style  with  those  just 
mentioned.  The  original  portal  was  on  the  north  side,  and  the  state 
chambers  on  the  third  story,  where  alone  are  found  large  windows. 
The  principal  room  in  the  centre  of  the  edifice  was  60  feet  by  30 ; 
two  others  on  the  southern  side  were  each  28  feet  by  15  ;  and  one  on 
the  northern  side  was  20  feet  by  15.  In  the  latter  end  of  the  reign  of 
James  I.  the  Castle  was  granted  away  from  the  Crown,  and  became 
private  property. 


The  Crispes  of  the  Isle  of  Thanet. 

About  half  a  mile  south-eastward  from  Birchington,  is  Quekes,  Quek, 
or,  as  it  is  now  called,  Quex,  anciently  the  seat  of  a  family  of  that 
name,  who  were  in  possession  of  the  estate  as  far  back  as  the  year  1449. 
Several  of  this  family  have  been  Sheriffs  of  Kent,  of  whom,  Henry 
Crispe,  Esq.,  held  that  office  in  the  thirty-eighth  of  Henry  VIII.,  and 
was  afterwards  knighted.  He  was  so  eminent  here  as  to  be  called  "  A 
little  King  of  all  the  Isle  of  Thanet."  Another  of  the  family,  Henry 
Crispe,  Esq.,  was  Sheriff  of  Kent  part  of  the  year  1649  and  1650;  but 
being  aged  and  infirm,  his  office  was  executed  by  his  son,  Sir  Nicholas 
Crispe,  Knight,  who  died  in  the  year  i6r,7.  In  the  same  year  his 
father  was  seized  at  his  house  at  Quex  in  the  night-time  and  conveyed 
to  Bruges,  in  Flanders,  where  he  was  detained  a  prisoner  eight  months, 
until  the  sum  of  300c/.  was  paid  for  his  ransom.  This  enterprise  is 
said  to  have  been  planned  by  Captain  Golding,  of  Ramsgate,  a  sanguine 
Royalist,  who  had  for  some  time  taken  refuge  with  Charles  II.,  in 
France,  and  was  thus  conducted :  The  party  landed  at  Grove  End, 
near  Birchington,  and,  proceeding  immediately  to  Quex,  took  Mr. 
Crispe  out  of  his  bed  without  the  least  resistance ;  and  having  con- 
veyed him  in  his  own  coach  to  the  water-side,  he  was  there  forced 
into  an  open  boat  without  any  of  his  domestics  being  sufTercd  to  attend 
bin;  although  that  favour  was  earnestly  requested.  He  was  carried 
first  to  Ostcnd,  and  thence  to  Bruges,  both  which  places  then  belonged 
to  Spain,  at  that  time  at  war  with  England. 

Considerable  difficulty  was  experienced  by  hii  family  in  raising  the 


The  Ellington  Murder.  335 

money  for  his  ransom,  as  the  Protector,  Oliver  Cromwell,  suspecting 
that  it  was  only  a  plan  by  which  they  might  assist  the  fugitive  Prince, 
made  an  order  in  Council  that  he  should  not  be  ransomed ;  and  the 
licence  for  so  doing  was  at  last  procured  only  after  great  solicitations 
and  much  embarrassment.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  said  that  Mr 
Crispe  had  been  for  some  time  apprehensive  of  such  an  attack,  and 
had  made  loop-holes  for  the  discharge  of  musketry  in  different  parts 
of  the  house,  the  better  to  defend  himself;  yet  all  his  precautions 
were  rendered  ineffectual  by  the  spirit  and  management  of  Captain 
Golding. 

In  this  mansion  King  William  III.  occasionally  resided  till  the  winds 
favoured  his  embarkation  to  Holland.  His  bedroom  used  to  be  shown, 
and  an  adjacent  enclosure  pointed  out  in  which  his  guards  encamped. 


The  Ellington  Murder. 

At  a  short  distance  westward  from  Ramsgate  is  Ellington,  which 
gave  name  to  an  ancient  family  that  resided  here  previously  to  the 
time  of  Edward  VI.,  towards  the  end  of  whose  reign  they  were  suc- 
ceeded by  the  Thatchers,  another  family  of  considerable  antiquity  in 
this  part  of  Kent.  About  the  middle  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign  it 
passed  from  them  to  the  Spracklyns,  of  whom  Adam  Spracklyn,  who 
resided  here  in  the  time  of  George  II.,  and  had  married  Katherine, 
daughter  of  Sir  Robert  Leuknor,  of  Acrise  Place,  was  executed  for  the 
murder  of  his  wife.  This  unfortunate  man  having  wasted  his  estate 
by  riotous  living,  and  considerably  involved  himself  in  debt,  was  com- 
pelled to  lock  himself  up  in  his  own  house  to  avoid  being  arrested ; 
and  while  there  he  conceived  a  rooted  antipathy  against  his  lady, 
through  supposing  her  to  be  in  league  with  his  creditors.  Occasionally, 
too,  he  was  afflicted  with  outrageous  fits  of  passion,  mingled  with 
insanity,  and  in  one  of  these  paroxysms  he  committed  the  horrid  deed 
for  which  he  suffered. 

From  the  many  appearances  of  design,  however,  which  accompanied 
the  sanguinary  act,  the  jury  were  led  to  declare  him  guilty  of  pre- 
meditated murder.  The  unfortunate  victim  to  his  rage  was  highly 
esteemed  for  her  piety  and  virtue.  Her  death  was  very  dreadful.  He 
first  struck  her  on  the  face  with  a  dagger  whilst  she  was  endeavouring 
to  soothe  his  passion,  and  then,  on  her  attempting  to  open  the  door  to 
leave  the  room,  he  struck  her  wrist  so  forcibly  with  an  iron  cleaver  or 
chopping-knife,  "  that  the  bone  was  cut  asunder,  and  her  hand  hung 


336  "      Legends  of  Minster  Abbey. 

down  only  by  the  sinews  and  skin."  An  interval  elapsed  (during 
which  the  wounded  limb  was  bound  up  by  an  aged  servant) ;  he 
felled  her  to  the  ground,  bleeding,  by  a  blow  on  the  forehead  with  the 
same  weapon,  and  on  her  raising  herself  upon  her  knees,  as  she  prayed  to 
God  to  forgive  her  murderer,  he  "  cleft  her  head  in  two,  so  that  she 
immediately  fell  down  stark  dead."  He  afterwards  killed  six  dogs  and 
threw  four  of  them  beside  the  dead  body  of  his  wife,  in  order,  accord- 
ing to  his  own  words,  given  in  evidence,  "  that  he  might  be  reckoned 
mad." 

This  murder  was  committed  on  the  night  of  Saturday,  December 
II,  1752,  at  which  time  Spracklyn  had  been  married  nineteen  years. 
Before  morning  he  was  apprehended,  and  soon  afterwards  lodged  in 
the  gaol  at  Sandwich,  where  he  was  tried  and  found  guilty  at  the 
Sessions  held  on  April  22,  1753.  He  was  hanged  on  the  following 
day,  and  on  the  second  night  after  his  body  was  interred  neai-  the 
remains  of  his  wife  in  St.  Lawrence's  Church. 


Legends  of  Minster  Abbey. 

Minster  lies  on  the  south  side  of  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  the  river  Stour ;  a  branch  of  which  formerly  flowed  up  to 
the  church,  under  the  appellation  of  Mynstre  Fleet.  This  place  derived 
its  origin  from  the  nunnery  and  church  founded  here  in  the  Saxori  times 
by  the  Princess  Domneva,  who  was  daughter  to  Ermenred,  eldest  son 
to  Eadbald,  King  of  Kent,  and  wife  to  Merwodd,  the  son  of  Pcnda, 
King  of  Mercia.  In  the  early  part  of  her  life  she  had  been  left  with  her 
sister  Ermengitha,  and  her  brothers  Ethelbert  and  Ethclbright, 
under  the  guardianship  of  her  uncle  Erwinbert,  who  had  usurped  his 
brother's  throne,  and  whose  son  and  successor,  Egbert,  through  the 
counsels  of  Thumor  or  Timor,  his  lieutenant,  was  induced  to  consent  to 
the  murder  of  both  the  princes,  in  order  that  he  might  retain  secure  pos- 
session of  the  kingdom.  In  expiation  of  the  murtlcr,  whicii  Thumor  is 
said  to  have  perpetrated  in  the  King's  palace  at  Eastry,  and  which  the 
monkish  legends  state  to  have  been  discovered  by  "  a  light  from  heaven 
seen  pointing  to  the  very  spot  where  the  bodies  were  interred,"  Egbert, 
by  the  advice  of  Theodore,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  Adrian, 
Abbot  of  St.  Augustine's,  promised  (in  accordance  with  the  customs  of 
the  age)  to  give  to  Domneva  "  whatever  she  should  ask,"  besides 
oficring  her  many  rich  presents. 

Domneva,  who  had  borne  one  son  and  two  daughters  to  her  husband, 


Legends  of  Minster  A  bbey.  337 

and  with  him  had  afterwards  taken  a  vow  of  chastity,  refused  the  pre- 
sents, but  at  the  same  time  requested  that  the  King  would  grant  her  as 
much  land  as  her  tame  deer  *'  could  run  over  at  one  course,"  on  which 
she  might  found  a  Nunnery  in  memory  of  her  deceased  brothers  ;  and 
with  her  virgin  train  solicit  the  Almighty  to  pardon  him  for  his  parti- 
cipation in  the  murder.  The  King  readily  complied,  and  in  the 
presence  of  many  of  his  nobles  and  people  the  deer  was  turned  loose  at 
West-gate,  on  the  sea-coast  in  Birchington  parish ;  and  after  running 
in  a  circuitous  track  eastward,  proceeded  towards  the  south-west, 
though  every  endeavour  was  made  by  Thumor  to  obstruct  its  course, 
the  "envious  murderer,"  as  he  is  called  by  Thome  (from  whose  Annals 
of  St.  Augustine's  Monastery  these  particulars  are  gathered),  crying 
out  that  •'  Domneva  was  a  witch,  and  the  King  a  fool,  in  yielding  so 
far  to  her  art  as  to  suffer  so  noble  and  fruitful  a  soil  to  be  taken  from 
him  by  the  decision  of  a  buck."  "This  impiety,"  continues  the 
Annalist,  "so  offended  heaven,  that  the  earth  opened  and  swallowed 
him  up,"  whilst  riding  across  and  checking  the  deer,  and  he  went  with 
Dathan  and  Abiram  into  hell,  leaving  the  name  of  Thumor-his-lepe,  or 
Thumor's  Leap,  to  the  field  and  place  where  he  fell,  to  perpetuate  the 
memory  of  his  punishment." 

Meanwhile  the  deer,  continuing  its  progress,  stopped  not  till  it  came 
to  the  estuary  of  the  Stour,  now  called  Sheriff's  Hope,  near  Monkton, 
having  completely  crossed  the  isle,  and  cut  off  a  tract  of  land  compre- 
hending upwards  of  ten  thousand  acres.  This  was  immediately  given 
by  the  King  to  Domneva,  and  afterwards  confirmed  to  her  by  his 
charters,  which  contained  a  most  fearful  curse  against  all  infringers  ot 
the  gift.  Egbert,  whom  the  fate  of  Thumor  had  affected  "  with  great 
fear  and  trembling,"  assisted  Domneva  with  wealth  to  enable  her  to 
build  the  Nunnery,  which  she  soon  afterwards  founded  on  the  spot 
"  where  the  present  Church  now  stands."  When  completed,  which 
was  about  the  year  680,  it  was  consecrated  by  Archbishop  Theodore, 
in  honour  of  the  Virgin  Mary  ;  and  Domneva,  having  endowed  it  for 
seventy  nuns  with  the  lands  granted  for  the  purpose,  became  the  first 
Abbes  J ;  on  her  decease  she  was  buried  here  "  on  the  glebe." 

Such  is  the  monkish  account  of  the  famous  Minster  Abbey,  which 
was  afterwards  called  St.  Mildred's  Abbey,  from  St.  Mildred,  one  of 
the  daughters  of  Domneva,  and  her  successor  to  the  government  ot 
this  foundation.  The  princess  was  held  in  very  high  repute  for  her  great 
holiness,  both  in  that  and  in  succeeding  ages.  Lambard  says  she  was 
"  lk)  mightily  defended  with  Divine  Power,  that  lying  in  a  hote  oven 
tor  three  hours  together,  she  suffered  not  of  the  flame.  She  was  also 
*  /. 


33^  Legends  of  Minster  Abbey. 

lendovved  with  the  God-lyke  virtue,  that  coming  out  ot  Fraunce,  the 
very  stone  on  which  she  first  stepped,  at  Ippedsflete,  in  this  Isle, 
received  the  impression  of  her  foote,  and  retained  it  for  ever ;  having, 
^besides,  this  propertie,  that  whether-soever  you  removed  the  same,  it 
would  within  a  short  time,  and  without  helpe  of  man's  hande,  returne 
to  the  former  place  againe."  Many  other  miracles  are  related  by  the 
rnonks  of  this  lady,  who,  on  her  decease,  was  buried  in  St.  Mary's 
Church,  which  formed  part  of  the  Nunnery  her  mother  had  founded. 

Edburga,  the  third  Abbess,  is  said  to  have  been  a  daughter  of  King 
.Ethelbert,  and  to  have  built  a  "  new,  larger,  and  more  stately 
temple,"  with  convenient  offices  and  dwellings,  contiguous  to  that  erected 
by  Domneva,  which  had  been  too  small  for  the  number  of  virgins 
which  were  there  associated.  The  new  Church  was  dedicated  by 
Archbishop  Cuthbert  to  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul ;  and  hither,  about  the 
year  750,  Edburga  translated  the  body  of  St.  Mildred,  who,  though 
she  had  now  been  interred  nearly  forty-five  years,  was  so  pure  and 
incorrupt,  that  "  she  seemed  more  like  a  lady  in  her  bed,  than  one 
resting  in  a  sepulchre  or  grave ;"  and  even  "  her  garments  had  continued 
unchanged."  Sigeburga,  the  next  Abbess,  was  doomed  to  witness  the 
commencement  of  those  devastations  which  eventually  proved  the  total 
destruction  of  the  Convent ;  for  in  her  time  the  Danes  began  their 
depredations  in  this  Isle,  and  plundered  the  nuns  and  ravaged  their 
possessions.  A  still  more  hapless  fate  attended  some  of  the  succeeding 
Abbesses,  who,  during  a  course  of  two  centuries,  were  frequently  sub- 
^.ected  to  the  cruelties  of  their  infidel  invaders;  and  at  length  the  whole 
of  the  religious  edifices  were  destroyed  by  fire,  together  with  all  the 
nuns  and  attending  priests,  as  well  as  many  of  the  neighbouring  inhabi- 
tants who  had  fled  hither  for  safety.  "Whether  this  event  took  place  in 
the  year  978,  988,  or  loii  is  uncertain,  as  historians  differ  with  respect 
to  the  precise  time.  Those  who  fix  it  in  the  latter  year  say  that  nearly 
the  whole  Isle  was  then  destroyed  by  the  Danish  army,  under  Swein, 
ihe  father  to  King  Canute. 

If  the  legends  of  the  monks  may  be  credited,  the  remains  of  the 
body  of  St.  Mildred  were  preserved  by  miraculous  interposition  during 
all  these  ravages ;  and  were  afterwards,  in  1027  or  1030,  given  by  Canute 
to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Auirustinc,  at  Canterbury,  on  the  earnest  solici- 
tation of  Abbot  Elstan,  together  with  all  the  lands  and  possessions  of 
the  foundation.  The  great  veneration  in  which  the  saint  was  held 
obliged  the  Abbot  and  his  brethren  to  proceed  with  considerable 
caution,  in  procuring  the  removal  of  the  venerated  reliques,  which  thay 
&t  last  effected  in  the  night  time,  though  not  so  secretly  but  that  the 


Legends  of  Minster  A  bhey.  339 

inhabitants  were  alarmed,  and  pursued  the  Abbot  and  h!s  comrades 
"with  swords  and  dubs,  and  a  great  force  of  arms."  The  monks, 
however,  having  got  the  start,  secured  the  ferry-boat,  and  had  almost 
crossed  the  river  before  the  men  of  Thanct. could  reach  it,  who,  having 
no  means  to  cross  the  stream,  were  therefore  obliged  to  give  up  the 
pursuit. 

In  Domesday  Book  this  manor,  which  is  therefore  called  Thanet 
IManor  (from  its  comprehending  the  greater  part  of  the  Isle),  is  stated 
to  have  one  hundred  and  fifty  villeins,  with  forty  borderers,  having 
sixty-three  carucates.  There  is  a  "  Church,"  continues  the  record, 
"one  priest,  one  salt-pit,  and  two  fisheries  of  three  pence,  and  one 
mill." 

The  most  remarkable  monument  in  the  Church  is  that  of  Sir  Robert 
de  Shurland,  who  resided  at  Shurland,  in  the  Isle  of  Sheppey.  It  is  of 
Gothic  design.  The  Knight  is  represented  recumbent,  cross-legged, 
and  his  head  resting  on  his  helmet ;  close  to  the  wall  appears  a  horse's 
head,  as  if  emerging  from  the  waves ;  on  his  left  arm  is  a  shield  like 
that  of  a  Knight  Templar,  and  a  page  stands  at  his  feet.  He  was 
created  a  Knight  Banneret  by  Edward  I.,  for  his  gallant  services  at  the 
siege  of  Caerlaverock,  in  Scotland,  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
vane  on  the  tower  of  the  church  is  in  the  figure  of  a  horse's  head,  the 
meaning  of  which  is  veiy  conjectural.  Some  pretend  (says  Grose,  in 
his  Antiquities)  it  was  to  an  excellency  he  possessed  in  the  art  of 
training  hoi'ses  to  swim ;  others  suppose  it  alludes  to  a  grant  of  "  wrecks 
of  the  sea"  bestowed  on  him  by  Edward  I.,  extending  as  far  as  he 
could  reach  with  his  lance  when  mounted  on  his  horse ;  ''  which  grant 
or  right  is  evermore  esteemed  to  reach  as  far  into  the  water,  upon  a 
low  ebb,  as  man  can  ride  in  and  touch  anything  with  the  point  of  his 
lance."  Then  we  are  told  that  the  vulgar  have  digged  out  of  his 
vault  many  wild  legends  and  romances,  as,  namely  :  "  that  he  buried  a 
priest  alive ;  that  he  swam  on  his  horse  two  miles  to  the  King,  who 
was  then  near  this  isle,  on  shipboard,  to  purchase  his  pardon,  and, 
having  obtained  it,  swam  back  to  the  shore,  where,  being  arrived,  he 
cut  off  the  head  of  the  said  horse  because  it  affirmed  that  he  had  acted 
this  by  magic ;  and  that  riding  a  hunting  a  twelvemonth  after,  his 
horse  stumbled  and  threw  him  on  the  skull  ot  his  former  horse,  which 
blow  so  bruised  him,  that  from  the  contusion  he  contracted  an  inward 
imposthumation  of  which  he  died."  But  these  legends  are  more  populaiiy 
sung  as  follows: — 

"  Of  monuments  that  here  they  show, 
Within  the  Church,  we  sketch'd  but  t*o: 


340  Cob  ham  Hall. 

One  an  ambassador  of  Spain's, 
T'other  Lord  Shurland's  dust  contairs, 
Of  whom  a  story  strange  they  tell, 
And  seemingly  beheve  it  well: 
The  Lord  of  Shurland,  on  a  day, 
Happ'ning  to  take  a  ride  this  way. 
About  a  corpse  observed  a  crowd 
Against  their  priest  complaining  loud, 
That  he  would  not  the  service  say 
Till  somebody  his  fees  should  pay; 
On  this  his  Lordship  too  did  rave. 
And  threw  the  priest  into  the  grave. 

•  Make  haste  and  fill  it  up,"  said  he, 

•  We'll  bury  both  without  a  fee." 

But  when  he  cooler  grew  and  thought 
To  what  a  scrape  himself  he'd  brought, 
Away  he  gallop'd  to  the  bay, 
Where  at  the  time  a  ship  did  lay, 
With  Edward,  England's  King,  on  board  •. 
When,  strange  to  tell,  this  hair-brained  lord 
The  horseback  swam  to  the  ship's  side. 
There  told  his  tale  and  pardon  cry'd ! 
The  grant  with  many  thanks  he  takes. 
And  swimming  still,  to  land  he  makes; 
But  on  ])is  riding  up  the  beach 
He  an  old  woman  meets,  a  witch! 

•  The  horse  which  now  your  life  doth  save,' 
Says  she,  '  will  bring  you  to  your  grave.' 

'  You'll  prove  a  liar,"  saith  my  lord, 

'You  wild  hag !'     Then  with  his  sword. 

Acting  a  most  ungrateful  part. 

The  gen'rous  beast  stabb'd  to  the  heai-t. 

It  happened  after  many  a  day. 

That  with  some  friends  he  stroU'd  that  way, 

And  the  strange  story,  as  they  walk, 

Became  the  subject  of  their  talk  : 

When  on  the  beach,  by  the  seaside, 

'Yonder  the  carcase  lies,'  he  cried. 

As  'twas  not  far,  he  led  them  to't, 

And  kick'd  the  skull  up  with  his  foot. 

When  a  sharp  bone  pierced  through  his  shoo. 

And  wounded  grievously  liis  toe, 

Which  mortified :  so  he  was  kill'd. 

And  the  iiag's  prophecy  fulfilled. 

See  there  his  cross-legged  figure  laid. 

And  at  his  feet  his  horse's  head." 


Cobham  Hall. 

This  brave  hoMse,  five  miles  west  from  Rochester,  was  the  ancient 
scat  and  head  of  the  barony  of  the  ilhistrioiis  and  far-spreadinp  family 
of  Cobham,  which  became  extinct  in  the  time  of  the  Commonwealth,  and 
with  whom,  perhaps,  the  ancient  nobilitv  of  Kent  may  be  said  to  have 


Cobham  Hah. 


341 


expired.  The  estate  is  now  the  property  of  the  Darnley  family,  whose 
pieJecessor  acquired  it  in  the  reigns  of  Queen  Anne  and  George  I.  Cob- 
ham  Hall  is  built  in  the  form  of  a  half  H,  and  the  extremities  of  the  wings 
are  terminated  with  octagonal  towers.  The  central  part  was  designed  by 
Inigo  Jones  in  1672  ;  the  wings,  chiefly  built  by  Brook,  Lord  Cobham, 
in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  exhibit  the  dates  1582  and  1594,  and 
have  the  later  Tudor  projecting  mullioned  windows,  quaintly  carved, 
cornices,  and  ornamental  doorways ;  but  Jones's  portion  is  a  plaii, 
facade,  with  Corinthian  pilasters.  The  southern  front  is  eminently 
Elizabethan  in  character,  and  tjie  rich  tones  of  the  red  brick,  contrasted 
with  the  variously  tinted  foliage  surrounding  the  house,  offer  the  finest 
studies  of  colour.  The  interior  is  elegantly  fitted  up,  and  has  a  very 
fine  collection  of  pictures,  mostly  collected  by  the  fourth  Earl  of 
Darnley  ;  several  belonged  to  the  Orleans  collection,  and  others  came 
from  the  Venetian  collection  of  Vetturi :  they  are  admirably  described 
in  Felix  Summerly's  Excursions,  1843,  to  which  is  appended  a  full 
catalogue.  The  park  is  nearly  seven  miles  in  circumference,  and 
abundantly  wooded :  the  oaks  are  very  large  and  ancient ;  and  here  is 
a  noble  avenue  of  lime-trees,  in  four  rows,  extending  more  than  1000 
yards.  Of  the  chestnuts  Strutt  has  published  "  The  Four  Sisters,"  which 
trees  measured  upwards  of  thirty  feet  in  circumference.  Near  the 
south-eastern  extremity  of  the  park  is  a  mausoleum  chapel,  erected  at 
the  expense  of  9000/.  Near  the  stabling  is  shown  a  richly  painted 
and  gilt  state-coach,  said  to  be  that  in  which  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  rode 
after  her  marriage  with  the  Earl  of  Darnley. 

The  Church  of  Cobham  is  noticeable  for  its  antiquity— its  Perpendi- 
cular and  lancet-windows — but,  above  all,  for  its  magnificent  brasses: 
side  by  side  in  the  chancel  are  thirteen  brasses,  life  size,  recording  the 
Cobhams  and  Brookes.  The  earliest  is  to  the  memory  of  Joan  de 
Cobham,  a.d.  1354;  the  latest  to  Thomas  Broke,  Dominus  de  Cob- 
ham, 1522.  Among  them  is  the  monument  of  John,  Lord  Cobham, 
founder  of  the  adjoining  College.  In  addition  to  the  above  thirteen 
there  are  eleven  other  brasses  in  the  Church  to  the  memory  of  the 
masters  of  Cobham  College.  Felix  Summerly  has  reprinted  Weever's 
readings  of  the  legends,  corrected  on  the  spot.  On  the  chancel  walls 
hang  rust-eaten  pieces  of  armour,  including  a  helmet  surmounted  with 
a  representation  of  a  human  head,  which,  according  to  village  tradition, 
belonged  to  one  of  the  lords  of  Cobham,  who  settled  a  pending  dispute 
with  some  neighbouring  noble  in  a  trial  by  battle.  The  result  was 
favourable  to  Cobham,  who,  as  stated,  at  one  blow  struck  off  his  ad- 
versary's head,  and  to  signalize  this  feat  adopted  ever  after  a  bleeding 


342  Thurnham  Castle. 

human  head  for  his  crest.  The  recumbent  figure,  on  a  splendid  marble 
tomb  adjoining,  with  hands  upraised  in  prayer,  is  pointed  out  as  the 
effigy  of  the  victorious  noble.  This  is  Sir  George  Brooke,  Lord  Cobham, 
governor  of  Calais  in  the  reigns  of  Edward  VI.  and  Mary ;  who,  in  the 
first  year  of  the  latter  sovereign,  was  disgraced,  and  sent  to  the  Tower, 
charged  with  participating  in  the  treasonable  attempt  of  Sir  Thomas 
Wyat.  Cobham  suffered  himself  to  forego  the  claims  of  kindred,  and 
of  common  principles  with  his  grandson,  and  gave  the  rebel  so  warm  a 
reception  when  he  essayed  the  seizure  of  Cowling  Castle,  that  though 
the  entrance  gate  had  been  forced  by  the  cannon  of  the  besiegers,  they 
were  yet  compelled  to  retire  the  next  night  to  Gravesend.  When  the 
excitement  of  the  plot  had  blown  over,  and  the  axe  had  performed  its 
office,  then  was  the  old  Lord  Cobham  liberated,  and  suffered  to  return 
home  to  his  favourite  seat  in  this  gai-den  county  of  Kent. 


Thurnham  Castle. 

Thurnham,  called  also,  from  the  hill  on  which  it  stands,  "  Godard's" 
Castle,  near  Maidstone,  is  a  curious  example  of  a  Norman  Castle, 
placed  upon  what  is  evidently  a  British  camp.  The  camp  crowned 
the  high  point  of  a  very  steep  spur,  which  juts  out  between  a  depression 
on  the  one  side,  and  a  small  deep  combe  on  the  other,  in  the  great 
escarpment  of  the  lower  chalk,  about  four  miles  east-north-east  of 
Maidstone. 

The  Norman  Castle  occupied  a  platfonn  close  west  of  the  mound, 
and  probably  included  within  the  British  camp.  Here  stand  the 
remains  of  the  gateway  and  court,  but  as  a  trace  of  masonry  is  still 
seen  upon  the  mound,  it  may  be  tliat  it  was  included  in  the  enceinte  j :  J  ^' 
wall,  or  that  upon  it  stood  one  of  the  circular  or  polygonal  shell  keeps  )  ;  3  / 
which  sometimes,  with  the  Normans,  took  the  place  of  the  ordinary 
square  keep,  especially  where  there  was  an  earlier  mound  to  be  fortilicd. 

Thurnham,  or  Tiirnham,  occurs  in  Domesday,  and  was  one  of  the 
numerous  manors  given  by  the  Conqueror  to  Bishop  Odo.  On  Odo'a 
fall,  it  was  granted  to  Gilbert  Maminot  by  the  tenure  of  castle  guard 
under  Dover  Castle.  The  holders  inider  Maminot  were  a  knightly 
family,  who  took  their  name  from  the  place.  Robert  de  Turnhani 
held  it /<•;;;/>.  Henry  IL,  and  founded  Comhwcll  Priory.  Possibly  he 
built  the  Castle,  which  is  thought  tu  have  been  dismantled  at  au  early 
periuiL 


343 


Canterbury  Cathedral. 

After  Westminster  Abbey  no  ecclesiastical  edifice  in  England  is 
so  conspicuous  at  once  for  its  beauty,  its  antiquity,  and  the 
innumerable  historical  associations  and  almost  immemorial  tra- 
ditions which  cluster  around  it,  as  Canterbury  Cathedral.  In 
general  interest  it  must  ever  hold  the  first  place  in  the  esteem  of 
TJritish  nations.  Here  the  first  Christian  church  in  England  arose, 
and  the  advanced  position  achieved  by  Canterbury  in  the  early 
times  is  still  maintained.  The  earliest  episcopal  city  in  England, 
it  is  at  the  present  day  the  metropolis  or  "  mother  city,"  upon  which 
the  other  episcopal  cities  are  in  some  sense  dependent.  Its  arch- 
bishop, besides  being  "  metropolitan,"  and  having  suffragan  bishops 
subject  to  him — a  privilege  which  is  also  enjoyed  by  the  Archbishop 
of  York — has  the  special  distinction  of  being  primate  of  all  Eng- 
land, and  first  peer  of  the  realm.  No  English  cathedral  so  com- 
pletely dominates  over  the  surrounding  town  as  that  of  Canterbury; 
and  no  religious  house  in  Britain  can  assert  a  superiority  over  all 
other  establishments  of  the  same  kind  with  the  same  claim  of 
right. 

The  interest  of  this  splendid  foundation  being  thus  of  the  highest 
order,  it  is  with  confidence  that  a  brief  sketch  of  its  history,  and  a 
rapid  survey  of  its  historic  associations  and  traditions,  are  offered  to 
the  reader. 

Whoever  was  the  actual  founder  of  the  church  in  Canterbury  it 
has,  at  least,  been  well  attested  that  two  churches  had  been  built 
by  the  Christianized  Roman  legionaries  who  occupied  this  part  of 
\he  country,  and  had  been  used  by  them  for  the  purposes  of 
Christian  worship.  These  structures  were  still  standing  at  the 
time  of  Augustine's  mission  into  Britain  for  the  conversion  of  the 
British  Saxons  in  596,  though  many  years  before,  the  last  of  the 
Romans  had  left  our  shores  to  aid  in  defending  their  own  country 
against  the  Goths. 

But  the  celebration  of  the  Christian  worship  was  not  extinct 
merely  because  the  faithful  Romans  had  departed.  Ethelbert, 
King  of  Kent,  had  married  Bertha,  daughter  of  Cherebert,  King  of 
France.  The  Saxon  King  adhered  to  the  heathen  superstitions  of 
h's  ancestors — the  Fre.ich  Princess,  like  all  the  other  members 
0'  the  French  royal  family  from  Clovis  downwards,  remained  a 
Christian.  On  the  marriage  of  Bertha  with  Ethelbert,  she  stipulated 


344  Canterhiiry  Cathedral. 

for  the  free  exercise  of  her  religion,  and  was  accompanied  by  a 
chaplain  and  a  nunioer  of  minor  ecclesiastics,  who  performed  their 
devotions  in  one  of  the  Roman  churches  referred  to.  It  will  thus 
be  seen,  that  though  the  gloom  of  Norse  superstitions  still  hung 
over  the  country,  there  was  one  spot  in  which  a  steady  light  still 
shone — one  fold  in  which  a  "  little  flock "  kept  together  by  the 
Queen  of  Kent  still  assembled.  The  entire  honour  of  having  con- 
verted the  whole  of  the  inhabitants  of  Britain  cannot  therefore  be 
awarded  to  Augustine,  although  all  active  and  effective  measures 
towards  this  end  date  from  the  period  of  his  mission. 

The  story  of  the  visit  of  Augustine  to  Britain,  so  picturesque  ana 
surprising  in  its  incidents  that  it  would  read  like  a  romance,  did  not 
the  sacred  character  of  the  expedition  itself,  and  the  stupendous 
results  which  flowed  from  it,  compel  us  to  regard  it  in  the  gravest 
of  lights,  is  too  intimately  connected  with  the  history  of  the  See  ol 
Canterbury  to  be  passed  over  here  without  some  notice.  Pope 
Gregory  the  Great,  prompted  by  his  zeal  for  the  propagation  of 
Christianity,  and  compassionating  the  state  of  the  Anglo-Saxons, 
then  dwelling  in  the  outer  darkness  of  heathendom,  resolved  to 
attempt  their  conversion,  and  for  this  purpose  commissioned 
Augustine  and  forty  other  monks  to  visit  Britain,  and  carry  with 
them  the  gospel  of  Christ.  The  monks  landed  in  the  Isle  of  Thanet, 
and  a  messenger  having  informed  King  Ethelbert  of  their  arrival 
and  of  their  purpose,  that  prince  received  them  favourably — here 
we  may  trace  the  winning  influence  of  the  gentle  Queen  Bertha — 
and  assigned  them  a  residence  in  Canterbury,  "the  metropolis  of 
all  his  dominions."  Ethelbert  was  soon  converted  to  the  new  faith, 
and  subsequently  manifested  his  piety  and  zeal  by  extending  the 
privileges  of  the  monks,  securing  to  them  their  possessions  in  per- 
petuity by  a  charter,  and  giving  them  liberty  "  freely  to  preach  and 
build  and  repair  churches  in  all  places."  The  Pope  addressed  a 
letter  to  the  Kentish  King,  and  accompanied  it  with  presents. 
Augustine  was  directed  to  ordain  twelve  bishops  in  his  own  pro- 
vince, and  to  send  one  to  York.  At  the  same  time  the  church  at 
Canterbury  was  made  metropolitan,  and  Pope  Gregory  declared  it 
to  be  paramount  to  all  others  in  the  kingdom  ;  "  for,"  said  he, 
"  where  the  Christian  failh  was  first  received,  there  also  should  be 
a  primacy  of  dignity."  The  ecclesiastical  rank  of  the  See  is  further 
confirmed  by  Boniface  the  Fifth,  who,  in  a  communication  to 
Jtistus,  the  fifth  in  succession  from  Augustine,  writes  : — "  We  will 
and  command  you  that  the  mctropolitical  sec  of  all  Britain  be  ever 


Canterbury  Cathedral.  345 

hereafter  in  the  city  of  Canterbury  ;  and  we  make  a  perpetual  and 
unchangeable  decree,  that  all  provinces  of  this  kingdom  of  England 
be  for  ever  subject  to  the  metropolitical  church  of  that  place," 

Having  given  to  Augustine  and  his  followers  the  Christian  church 
in  which  Queen  Bertha  worshipped,  Ethelbert  enjoined  the  clergy 
to  continue  in  their  monastic  mode  of  life  ;  hence  this  establish- 
ment became  what  is  called  a  "  cathedral  monastery,"  where  the 
bishop  was  practically  abbot,  though  the  duties  attached  to  the 
office  were  performed  by  a  subordinate  person,  presiding  more 
immediately  over  the  monks.  This  monastery  was  governed  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  of  St.  Benedict,  and  was  the  first  settlement  ot 
that  order  in  Britain. 

On  the  death  of  Ethelbert,  and  the  succession  of  Eadbald,  his 
pagan  son,  Christianity  in  England  was  threatened  with  almost 
total  ruin.  The  reigning  King  of  Kent  had  sunk  into  heathenism, 
pagan  enemies  raged  on  all  sides  ;  the  Bishops  of  London  and 
Rochester,  who  had  been  appointed  by  Augustine,  abandoned 
their  charge  and  left  the  country,  and  Bishop  Lawrence,  Augustine's 
successor,  was  preparing  to  follow  their  example  and  forsake 
Canterbury.  This  catastrophe,  however,  was  prevented  by  the 
occurrence  of  a  miracle — real  or  pretended.  In  the  light  of 
legend  the  storj-  of  the  miracle  runs  thus  : — On  the  night  before 
the  day  of  his  intended  flight  from  Canterbury,  Bishop  Lawrence 
slept  in  the  church.  While  he  slept  the  Apostle  Peter  appeared, 
and  after  upbraiding  him  in  no  measured  terms  for  his  intention  of 
deserting  his  flock,  the  vigorous  vision  proceeded  to  administer  a 
most  severe  castigation  to  the  prelate.  Even  this  very  active  form 
of  impressing  advice  upon  an  unwilling  ear  might  have  been  dis- 
regarded by  Lawrence  had  he  not,  on  awaking,  found  that  the 
dream  which  had  been  acting  in  his  mind  had  been  also  dra. 
matically  performed  upon  his  body.  His  shoulders  he  discovered 
to  be  rigid  with  weals,  and  severely  lacerated.  Much  astonished, 
and  not  a  little  pained  at  what  had  occurred,  the  bishop  repaired  to 
the  apostate  king,  Eadbald,  and,  laying  bare  his  lacerated 
shoulders,  he  told  the  story  of  his  vision.  The  King's  doubts  of 
the  Christian  religion  vanished  at  the  sight  of  the  stripes,  which 
could  not  be  accounted  for  except  as  having  been  inflicted  by  mi- 
raculous agency,  and  he  now  gave  that  countenance  and  support  to 
the  infant  church  which  he  had  formerly  withheld  from  it. 

The  church  of  Canterbury  had  suffered  much  during  the  sack  of 
the  town  by  the  Danes,  on  which  occasion  the  Archbishop  and 


34^  Canterbury  Cathedral. 

monks  were  all  massacred.  In  expiation  of  this  ruthless  deed  the 
Danish  Canute  caused  the  sacred  edifice  to  be  repaired,  restored  to 
the  monks  the  body  of  their  murdered  Archbishop,  and  hung  up  his 
own  crown  as  an  offering  in  the  nave.  But  this  edifice  was  fated 
to  undergo  many  vicissitudes,  and  in  the  troublous  times  of  the 
Conquest  it  was  completely  burned  down — its  entire  collection  of 
the  bulls  and  privileges  that  had  been  granted  to  it  by  successive 
Popes  and  Kings,  being  destroyed  by  the  flames. 

Of  this  first  church,  which  may  be  named  Augustine's  Church, 
no  fragment  remains  ;  but  certain  memorials  of  the  ancient  Saxon 
building  are  traceable,  as  for  instance  in  the  name  Christ's  Church, 
(the  old  building  consecrated  by  Augustine  being  named  St. 
Saviour's)  in  the  crypt,  which  occupies  the  site  of  the  earlier  one, 
and  in  the  southern  porch,  which  was  the  principal  entrance  of  the 
former,  as  it  is  of  the  present  edifice. 

From  its  antiquity  Canterbury  Cathedral  may  be  taken  as  an 
illustration  of  all  the  styles  of  architecture  that  have  flourished  in 
England,  from  the  Saxon  period  to  our  own  Victorian  age.  The 
diversity  of  the  architectural  features  is  naturally  due  to  the 
successive  restorations  of  the  structure  rendered  necessary  from 
decay,  the  accidents  of  war,  fire,  &c.  Lanfranc  (1070-1089)  the 
first  archbishop  after  the  Conquest,  finding  his  cathedral  church  com- 
pletely in  ruins,  pulled  down  the  few  remains  of  his  monastic 
building  and  reconstructed  both  church  and  monastery  from  their 
foundations.  Under  Anselm,  the  next  archbishop,  the  choir  was 
rebuilt  in  such  a  style  of  splendour  that,  according  to  William  of 
Malmesbury,  "  it  surpassed  every  other  choir  in  England,"  particu- 
larly in  the  transparency  of  its  glass  windows,  the  beauty  of  its 
marble  pavements,  and  the  curious  paintings  of  the  roof.  Under 
the  next  superior,  Prior  Conrad,  the  chancel  was  finished  and 
decorated  with  so  much  magnificence  as  to  warrant  the  name  by 
which  it  was  thenceforth  known  as  "  the  glorious  Choir  of  Conrad." 
With  this  latter  restoration  the  church  was  considered  finished,  and 
it  was  dedicated,  in  1 130,  in  the  presence  of  "  King  Henry  of  Eng- 
land, David  King  of  Scotland,  and  all  the  bishops  of  England,"  the 
next  famous  dedication,  says  Gervase,  "  that  had  ever  been  heard 
of  on  the  earth  since  that  of  the  temple  of  Solomon." 

It  was  in  this  church  that  licckct  was  murdered  (1170) ;  and  it 
was  in  Conrad's  choir  that  his  body  was  watched  by  the  monks  on 
the  night  following. 

In  1 174,  the  church  again  suffered  by  fire,  when  the  whole  of  the 


Canterbury  Cathedral.  347 

choir  was  destroyed.  In  the  restoration  both  French  and  English 
architects  were  consulted — the  plans  of  William  of  Sens  being 
eventually  approved,  and  the  work  put  into  his  hands.  A  fall  from 
a  scaffold,  fifty  feet  high,  interrupted  the  bold  and  artistic  improve- 
ments projected,  and  in  part  carried  out,  by  this  architect,  who  was 
succeeded  by  William  Anglus,  or  English  William,  under  whom  the 
choir  and  eastern  buildings  beyond  it  were  completed  in  1184. 

Later  improvements  were  carried  out  by  Prior  Challenden,  who 
took  down  Lanfranc's  nave  and  erected  a  new  one  with  transepts 
( 1 378-1410),  and  by  Prior  Goldstone,  who  added  the  great  central 
tower  about  1495. 

The  Canterbury  Cathedral  of  the  present  day  consists  either  of 
portions  or  of  the  whole  of  the  different  structures  erected  by  the 
architects  just  named,  and  the  edifice  thus  exhibits  specimens 
of  nearly  all  the  classes — ranging  over  an  era  of  nearly  four  cen- 
turies— of  pointed  architecture,  the  principal  being  Transition,  Nor- 
man, and  Perpendicular.  The  continual  enlargements  and  additions 
made  to  the  main  building  arose  principally  from  the  circumstance 
that  the  church  was  continually  acquiring  valuable  relics,  for  the 
display  of  which  sufificient  shrine-room  had  to  be  provided.  But 
with  all  the  alterations,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  existing 
cathedral,  although  of  such  various  dates,  covers,  as  nearly  as  can 
be  ascertained,  the  same  ground  as  the  original  building  of  Lan- 
franc,  with  the  exception  of  the  nave,  which  projects  to  a  greater 
length  westward. 

The  southern  side  of  the  church  presents  various  and  diversified 
features,  forms,  and  styles.  It  is  of  great  length  and  height,  and  is 
divided  into  several  dissimilar  parts.  The  north  side  of  the  cathe- 
dral very  nearly  resembles  the  south  in  general  arrangement. 

The  interior,  however,  will  be  found  to  be  much  more  impressive 
and  interesting  than  tlie  exterior.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  double 
cross,  and  consists  of  a  nave  and  aisles,  a  short  transept  with  two 
chapels,  a  choir  and  aisles  elevated  above  the  level  of  the  nave  by  a 
flight  of  steps,  another  transept  of  larger  dimensions,  with  two 
semicircular  recesses  on  the  east  side  of  each,  and  two  square 
towers  to  the  west.  East  of  the  choir  is  the  Trinity  Chapel,  with 
Becket's  shrine,  and  the  corona,  with  the  monument  of  Cardinal 
Pole. 

Canterbury  stands  alone  among  English  and  foreign  cathedrals 
from  the  circumstance  that  the  choir  rises  to  a  very  unusual  height 
above  the  crypt,  and  is  reached  by  a  stately  and  imposing  flight  of 


348  Canterbury  Cathedral. 

steps.  This  magnificent  and  lofty  approach,  combined  with  the 
tall  and  massive  piers  breaking  up  from  the  pavement,  like  some 
natural  forest  of  stone,  has  in  every  age  elicited  the  admiration 
of  visitors. 

Among  the  lists  of  those  who  have  done  much  to  add  interest  to 
the  cathedral  of  Canterbury  must  not  be  forgotten  the  name  of  the 
poet  Chaucer.  The  "  Canterbury  Tales"  have  sent  as  many  pil- 
grims to  visit  the  ancient  shrines  of  this  edifice  as  the  most  sacred 
of  its  relics.  But  Chaucer,  whose  mind  was  in  an  artistic  sense  so 
subtle,  and  at  the  same  time  so  singularly  candid  and  direct, 
dealt  with  the  materials  which  he  had  to  hand  with  justice  and 
fairness. 

The  shrine  of  Thomas  k  Becket  was  the  chief  attraction  of  pil- 
grims to  Canterbury  Cathedral  during  the  middle  ages  ;  and  but 
for  the  accident  of  the  murder  of  the  great  archbishop  here  in  1 170, 
this  church  would  never  have  acquired  its  fame  or  its  wealth  or  its 
lavish  artistic  decoration.  It  never  would  have  become  the  Mecca 
of  the  English  pilgrims  but  for  this  circumstance,  nor  probably 
would  it  have  suggested  the  series  of  "  Tales  "  in  which  so  many 
generations  have  delighted.  The  murder  of  Becket  was  the  most 
momentous  and  important  event  that  ever  occurred  in  connexion 
with  the  cathedral ;  and  it  is  a  notorious  fact  that  the  monks  of 
Christ's  Church  converted  the  ghastly  incident  into  a  source  of  vast 
revenue  and  extended  popularity.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  shrine 
and  chapel  were  adorned  with  splendour,  pomp,  and  parade ;  nor  can 
we  wonder  much,  considering  the  customs  and  the  superstitions  ot 
the  age,  that "  Canterbury  Pilgrimages"  were  frequent  and  numerous. 
The  paving  stones  round  the  shrine  of  "  St.  Thomas  the  Martyr" 
are  said  to  bear  evidences  of  the  frequency  of  devotional  kneeling, 
by  being  nearly  worn  through. 

The  immense  value  and  ostentatious  splendour  of  Backet's 
shrine  are  thus  described  by  Erasmus,  who  saw  it  shortly  after  the 
dissolution.  In  a  chest  or  case  of  wood  was  "  a  coffin  of  gold, 
together  with  inestimable  riches,  gold  being  the  meanest  thing  to 
be  seen  there ;  it  shone  all  over,  and  sparkled  and  glittered  with 
jewels  of  the  most  rare  and  precious  kinds  and  of  an  extraordinary 
size,  some  of  them  being  larger  than  a  goose's  egg— most  of  them 
being  the  gifts  of  monarchs."  Stow,  in  his  annals  of  Henry  VIII., 
describes  it  more  minutely.  He  states  :  "  It  was  buildcd  a  man's 
height,  all  of  stone  ;  then,  upwards  of  timber,  plain  ;  within  the 
which  was  a  chest  of  yrun,  containing  the  bones  of  Thomas  Becket, 


Canterbury  Cathedral.  349 

scull  and  all,  with  the  wound  of  his  death,  and  the  piece  cut  out  of 
his  scull  layde  in  the  same  wounde.  These  bones  (by  the  com- 
mandment of  the  Lord  Cromwell)  were  then  and  there  burnt.  The 
timber-work  of  this  shrine  on  the  outside  was  covered  with  plates 
of  gold  ;  damasked  with  gold  weir,  which  grounde  of  gold  was  again 
covered  with  jewels  of  golde,  as  rings  ten  or  twelve  cramptd  with 
gold  wyre  into  the  sayde  ground  of  gold,  many  of  those  ringes  hav- 
ing stones  in  them  ;  broaches,  images,  angels,  pretious  stones,  and 
great  orient  pearles.  The  spoil  of  which  shrine  in  gold  and  pretious 
stones  filled  two  great  chests,  such  as  six  or  seaven  strong  men  could 
doe  no  more  than  convey  one  of  them  at  once  out  of  the  church." 

Among  the  illustrious  persons  who  made  pilgrimages  to  Canter- 
bury may  be  noted  Philip,  Earl  of  Flanders,  who  visited  the 
cathedral  with  a  numerous  retinue,  and  was  met  by  Henry  II.  of 
England.  Louis  the  Seventh  of  France  visited  the  shrine  in  1179, 
in  a  pilgrim's  garb,  and  was  also  met  by  the  superstitious  English 
monarch.  The  French  king  presented  a  cup  of  gold,  with  the 
famous  jewel  called  the  Regal  of  France,  which  was  seized  by 
Henry  VIII.,  and  set  in  a  thumb-ring.  Perhaps  the  most  memo- 
rable event  connected  with  this  place  was  the  silly  and  dis- 
gustingly degrading  penance  which  Henry  II.  voluntarily  sub- 
jected himself  to  at  Becket's  shrine.  The  king,  on  approaching 
Canterbury,  alighted  from  his  horse,  and  walked  barefoot  about 
three  miles  over  rough  stones.  He  prostrated  himself  before  the 
tomb,  and  remained  some  time  in  prayer,  directing  the  Bishop  of 
London  to  declare  to  the  people  that  he  was  not  accessory  to  the 
death  of  Becket.  He  then  commanded  all  the  monks  to  scourge 
him  ;  and  he  afterwards  continued  his  prayers  at  the  tomb,  where 
he  remained  all  day  and  night  on  the  bare  stones,  and  without 
food.  He  also  had  himself  clad  in  sackcloth,  and  after  paying  his 
devotions,  &c.,  to  all  the  altars  of  the  church,  he  bequeathed  a  reve- 
nue of  forty  pounds  ayear  for  wax  candles  to  be  always  burning  about 
the  tomb.     He  then  returned  to  London  exhausted  and  ill,  naturally. 

Contrary  to  the  received  notion,  Becket  was  not  killed  in  front  of 
the  altar  of  Canterbury  Cathedral ;  he  was  slain  in  the  choir  confront- 
ing his  pursuers,  when  they  succeeded  in  arresting  his  flight  upwards 
to  the  sacrosanct  chapel  of  St.  Blaise,  in  the  roof  of  the  Cathedral 
The  assassins  had  challenged  him,  on  the  part  of  Henry,  in  the  course 
of  the  afternoon,  and  a  long-continued  angry  altercation  had  passed 
between  them  in  the  presence  of  the  monks,  who  surrounded  their 
Archbishop,  in  his  private  chamber.  When  the  murderers  left  to  get 


350  Canterbury  Cathedral. 

their  arms,  the  monks  hurried  Becket  by  the  cloisters  into  the  church, 
in  the  vain  hope  of  sanctuary.  When  Tracy,  one  of  the  assassins, 
attacked  Becket,  the  latter  grappled  with  and  flung  him  on  the  floor  of 
the  choir.  Fitzurse  then  struck  at  the  Archbishop  with  his  sw^ord,  out 
only  wounded  him  slightly  in  the  head  ;  breaking,  however,  the  arm  of 
Grim,  a  German  monk,  which  was  raised  to  ward  off  the  blow. 
Another  sword-cut  prostrated  Becket,  and  then,  as  he  lay,  Tracy  smote 
him  with  such  force  that  he  cut  off  the  crown  of  his  head,  cleaving 
through  brain  and  bone,  and  breaking  his  sword  on  the  stone  pavement. 
So  ended  the  career  of  the  Archbishop. 

Tiic  Dean  of  Chichester  (Dr.  Hook)  gives  this  picturesque 
description  of  the  terrific  scene,  founded  on  a  close  study  of  autho- 
rities : — 

"  His  friends  had  more  fear  for  Becket  than  Becket  for  himself.  The 
gates  were  closed  and  barred,  but  presently  sounds  were  heard  of  those 
without,  striving  to  break  in.  The  lawless  Robert  de  Broc  was  hewing 
at  the  door  with  an  axe.  All  around  Becket  was  the  confusion  of 
terror:  he  only  was  calm.  Again  spoke  John  of  Salisbury  with  his 
cold  prudence — '  Thou  wilt  never  take  counsel :  they  seek  thy  life.' — 
'  I  am  prepared  to  die.' — '  We  who  are  sinners  are  not  so  weary  of 
life.' — •  God's  will  be  done.'  The  sounds  without  grew  wilder.  All 
around  him  entreated  Becket  to  seek  sanctuary  in  the  church.  He 
refused,  whether  from  religious  reluctance  that  the  holy  place  should  be 
stained  with  his  blood,  or  from  the  nobler  motive  of  sparing  his  a!^sassin8 
this  deep  aggravation  of  their  crime.  They  urged  that  the  bell  was 
already  tolling  for  vespers.  He  seemed  to  give  a  reluctant  consent ;  but 
he  would  not  move  without  the  dignity  of  his  crosier  carried  before 
him.  With  gentle  compulsion  they  half  drew,  half  carried  him 
through  a  private  chamber,  they  in  all  the  hasty  agony  of  terror,  he 
striving  to  maintain  his  solemn  state,  into  the  church.  The  din  of  the 
armed  men  was  ringing  in  the  cloister.  The  affrighted  monks  broke 
off  the  service  ;  some  hastened  to  close  the  doors ;  Becket  commanded 
them  to  desist — '  No  one  should  be  debarred  from  entering  the  house 
of  God.'  John  of  Salisbury  and  the  rest  fTed  and  hid  themselves 
behind  the  altars  and  in  other  dark  places.  The  Archbishop  might 
have  escaped  iuto  the  dark  and  intricate  crypt,  or  into  a  chapel  in  the 
roof.  There  remained  only  the  Canon  Robert  (of  Merton),  Fitz- 
Stcphen,  and  the  faithful  Kdward  Grim.  Becket  stood  between  the 
altar  of  St.  Benedict  and  that  of  the  Virgin.  It  was  thought  that 
Becket  contemplated  taking  his  seat  on  his  archiepiscopal  throne  near 
the  high  altar. 


Canterbury  Cathedral.  351 

"  Through  the  open  door  of  the  cloister  came  rushing  in  the  four, 
fiiUy  armed,  some  with  axes  in  their  hands,  with  two  or  three  wild 
followers,  through  the  dim  and  bewildering  twilight.  The  knights 
shouted  aloud, '  Where  is  the  traitor  ?'  No  answer  came  back.  '  Where 
is  the  Archbishop  ?' — 'Behold  me,  no  traitor,  but  a  priest  of  God!' 
Another  fierce  and  rapid  altercation  followed:  they  demanded  the 
absolution  of  the  bishops,  his  own  surrender  to  the  King's  justice. 
They  strove  to  seize  him  and  to  drag  him  forth  from  the  church  (even 
they  had  awe  of  the  holy  place),  either  to  kill  him  without,  or  carry 
him  in  bonds  to  the  King.  He  clung  to  the  pillar.  In  the  struggle  he 
grappled  with  De  Tracy,  and  with  desperate  strength  dashed  him  on 
the  pavement.  His  passion  rose ;  he  called  Fitzurse  by  a  foul  name — a 
pander.  These  were  almost  his  last  words.  (How  unlike  those  of  Stephen 
and  the  greater  than  Stephen  !)  He  taunted  Fitzurse  with  his  fealty 
sworn  to  himself.  '  I  owe  no  fealty  but  to  my  King !'  returned  the 
maddened  soldier,  and  struck  the  first  blow.  Edward  Grim  interposed 
his  arm,  which  was  almost  severed  off.  The  sword  struck  Becket, 
but  slightly,  on  the  head.  Becket  received  it  in  an  attitude  of  prayer — 
'  Lord,  receive  my  spirit,'  with  an  ejaculation  to  the  saints  of  the 
church.  Blow  followed  blow  (Tracy  seems  to  have  dealt  the  first 
mortal  wound),  till  all,  unless  perhaps  De  Morville,  had  wreaked 
their  vengeance.  The  last,  that  of  Richard  de  Brito,  smote  off  a 
piece  of  his  skull.  Hugh  of  Horsea,  their  follower,  a  renegade  priest 
surnamed  Mauclerk,  set  his  heel  upon  his  neck,  and  crushed  out 
the  blood  and  brains.  'Away!'  said  the  brutal  ruffian,  '  it  is  time 
that  we  were  gone.'  They  rushed  out  to  plunder  the  archiepiscopal  palace. 

"  The  mangled  body  was  left  on  the  pavement ;  and  when  his 
affrighted  followers  ventured  to  approach  to  perform  the  last  offices,  an 
incident  occurred  which,  however  incongruous,  is  too  characteristic  to 
be  suppressed.  Amid  their  adoring  awe  at  his  courage  and  constancy, 
their  profound  sorrow  for  his  loss,  they  broke  out  into  a  rapture  of 
wonder  and  delight  on  discovering  not  merely  that  his  whole  body  was 
swathed  in  the  coarsest  sackcloth,  but  that  his  lower  garments  were 
swarming  with  vermin.  From  that  moment  miracles  began.  Even  the 
populace  had  before  been  divided ;  voices  had  been  heard  among  the 
crowd  denying  him  to  be  a  martyr ;  he  was  but  the  victim  of  his  own 
obstinacy.  The  Archbishop  of  York  even  after  this  dared  to  preach 
that  it  was  a  judgment  of  God  against  Becket — that  '  he  perished,  like 
Pharaoh,  in  his  pride.'  But  the  torrent  swept  away  at  once  all  this 
resistance.  The  Government  inhibited  the  miracles,  but  faith  in 
miracles  scorns  obedience  to  human  laws.    The  Passion  of  the  Mart)^ 


352  Canterbury  CatJiedral. 

'I'homas  was  saddened  and  glorified  every  day  with  new  incidents  of  its 
atrocity,  of  his  holy  firmness,  of  wonders  wrought  by  his  remains." — 
Lives  of  the  Archbishops  of  Canterbury. 

The  well-known  legend  has  it  that  evil  befel  the  murderers  by  sea 
and  land,  and  that  no  one  of  them  ever  after  throve  or  prospered,  and 
such  was,  indeed,  the  popular  belief  for  nearly  seven  centui'ies.  But  the 
facts  are  totally  different.  Moreville,  who  kept  back  the  crowd  at  the 
door  of  the  choir,  while  the  associate  assassins  were  doing  the  King's 
will  on  Becket,  lived  and  died  Chief  Justice  in  Eyre,  north  of  Trent — 
that  is  to  say,  one  of  the  principal  judges  of  England.  Tracy  was 
created  Grand  Justiciary  of  Normandy,  by  Henry,  within  four  years  of 
the  assassination.  Fitzurse  went  to  Ireland  and  founded  the  Celto- 
Norman  sept,  known  as  the  Macmahons  of  the  county  of  Wexford , 
and  Bret,  the  fourth  murderer,  died  in  his  bed  in  due  course,  after 
spending  a  long  life  in  the  enjoyment  of  his  estates,  in  Devonshire,  thus 
negativing  the  historical  justice. 

The  views  of  the  character  of  Thomas  a  Becket  have  changed  with 
the  times.  From  the  period  of  his  death  to  the  Reformation,  his  shrine 
in  Canterbury  Cathedral  continued  to  be  visited  by  crowds  of  pilgrims, 
whose  offerings  proved  a  valuable  source  of  revenue.  At  the  Reforma- 
tion, the  shrine  was  dismantled  and  plundered,  and  the  name  of  the 
saint  himself  excluded  from  the  calendar  in  the  reformed  liturgy.  An 
entire  revulsion  of  feeling  now  took  place  regarding  him,  and  from  the 
rank  of  a  holy  man  and  a  martyr  he  descended,  in  general  estimation, 
to  the  level  of  a  presumptuous  priest,  and  audacious  rebel.  This  view 
of  his  character  prevailed  generally  up  to  the  present  day,  when  a  second 
revolution  in  public  opinion  took  place ;  and  a  Becket  has  found  several 
able  eulogists,  not  only  as  an  ecclesiastic,  but  in  reference  to  principles 
of  a  different  nature:  motives  of  patriotism  and  resistance  to  feudal 
tyranny.  These  last  mentioned  views  are  advocated  by  M.  Thierry  and 
Mr.  Froude,  the  former  of  whom  regards  a  Becket  in  the  same  aspect 
that  he  does  Robin  Hood,  as  the  vindicator  of  Saxon  rights  and  liberties 
against  Norman  oppression  ;  the  latter  sees  in  him  a  bulwark  to  the 
people  against  monarchical  and  baronial  outrages,  such  as  the  power  ot 
the  church  often  was  in  mediaeval  times.  M.  Thierry's  view  seems  to 
be  entirely  fanciful ;  and  neither  in  this  light,  nor  in  the  view  taken  by 
Mr.  Froude,  is  it  possible  to  attribute  to  a  Becket  the  character  of  a 
hero  or  a  martyr  ;  though  as  the  former  he  must  ever  appear  to  parties 
who  consider  it  impossible  to  exalt  too  highly  the  power  of  the  church. 

Archbishop  Manning  has  declared  that  "  St.  Thomas  died  in  defence 
of  the  law  of  England     As  an  Englishman  he  stood  up  for  the  law  of 


Canterbury  Cathedral.  353 

the  land  against  the  most  atrocious,  corrupt,  and  oppressive  exercise  of 
-oyal  prerogative  by  one  whom  no  English  historian  would  venture  to 
defend.  The  first  article  of  Magna  Charta  is  '  The  Church  shall  enjoy 
its  liberty.'  That  embodies  and  expresses  the  very  cause  for  which  St. 
Thomas  laid  down  his  life.  That  St.  Thomas  resisted  the  excess  ot 
royal  power,  interfering  with  the  freedom  of  religion  and  conscience. 
Take  one  great  example :  the  King  claimed  that  no  one  should  be  put 
out  ot  the  church,  by  spiritual  authority,  without  his  leave.  Another 
point  was  that  in  the  election  of  bishops  the  persons  should  be  chosen 
by  his  recommendation.  The  truth  is  that  we  have  come  to  a  time 
when  the  pctjple  of  England  and  of  Scotland  have  literally  vindicated 
for  themselves  the  very  principle  of  spiritual  liberty  for  which  St.  Thomas 
eufFered." 

In  Canterbury  Cathedral,  which  is  considered  the  most  monumental 
Odifice  of  English  history,  are  these  memorials  of  the  assassination  of 
Becket.  There  is  the  Transept  of  the  Martyrdom.  There  is  the 
actual  door  by  which  Becket  and  the  knights  entered  the  church; 
next,  the  wall  in  front  of  which  the  Archbishop  fell;  and  lastly,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  pavement  immediately  in  front  of  the  wall 
is  that  existing  at  the  time  of  the  murder.  It  is  a  hard  Caen  stone, 
and  from  the  centre  of  one  of  the  flags  a  small  square  piece  has 
been  cut  out,  possibly  as  a  relic.  In  front  of  the  wall,  and  a  portion 
of  the  pavement,  was  erected  a  wooden  altar  to  the  Virgin,  called 
"  Altare  ad  punctum  ensis,"  where  a  portion  of  the  brains  was  shown 
imder  a  piece  of  rock  crystal,  and  where  were  exhibited  and  kissed  by 
the  pilgrims  the  fragments  of  Le  Bret's  sword,  which  had  been  broken 
on  the  floor.  The  steps  up  which  the  pilgrims  to  the  shrine  of  St. 
Thomas  climbed  on  their  knees,  and  the  indentations  on  the  stones,  yet 
tell  of  the  long  train  of  worshippers  by  which  they  have  been  mounted 
age  after  age. 

In  1643,  stately  Canterbury  lost  much  of  the  great  window  of  the 
north  transept,  the  gift  of  Edward  II.  and  his  Queen.  In  the  centre  of 
the  window  was  Becket  himself  at  full  lengtli,  robed  and  mitred.  This 
part  was  demolished  in  1692  by  Richard  Culmer,  called  "  Blue  Dick," 
the  great  Iconoclast  of  Canterbury,  who  "  rattled  down  proud  Becket's 
glassy  bones,"  with  a  pike ;  and  who.whilethus  engaged,  narrowly  escapea 
martyrdom  himself  at  the  hands  of  a  malignant  fellow-townsman,  who 
"  threw  a  stone  with  so  good  a  will  that,  if  St.  Richard  Culmer  had 
not  ducked,  he  might  have  laid  his  own  bones  among  the  rubbish." 

There  is  in  existence  a  beautiful  Grace  Cup,  believed  to  have  once 
belonged  to  a  Becket,  and  the  legends  and  initials  upon  it  vouch  for  the 
tradition.     Round  the  lid  is  the  motto,  "  Sobrii  Estate,"  with  the  letters 

*  A  A 


354  Canterbury  Cathedral 

T.  B.  supporting  a  mitre.  Upon  the  body  the  cup  is  chased  •'  Finttm 
tuum  bibe  cum  gaudio."  Round  the  neck  of  the  top  is  the  name  "  God 
Ferare,"  probably  the  name  of  the  goldsmith.  The  Ivory  Cup  itsell  is 
very  probably  a  relic  of  the  great  Archbishop  himself ;  but  the  mount- 
ings are  certainly  of  not  earlier  date  than  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  if  so  early.  The  cup  was  presented  by  the  valiant  Admiral 
Sir  Edward  Howard  to  Catherine  of  Aragon.  At  the  Queen's  death 
it  reverted  to  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  and  can  be  traced  in  the  family  ever 
since. 


355 


SUSSEX. 
Pevensey  Castle. 

The  town  of  Pevensey,  once  formidable  for  its  Castle  and  successful 
for  its  harbour,  has  dwindled  to  a  village  of  some  200  inhabitants.  It 
is  situated  upon  a  headland,  about  half  a  mile  from  the  sea,  in  the  level 
called  the  Marsh  of  Pevensey,  about  ten  miles  to  the  west  of  Hastings, 
and  five  from  Eastbourne.  It  is  surrounded  by  rich  pastures  and 
meadows,  and  is  united  to  the  village  of  West  Ham  by  the  remains  of 
the  great  Roman  castrum,  the  ancient  Anderida,  which,  filled  with 
Britons  and  Romano-Britons,  held  out  for  a  long  time  against  the  Saxon 
invaders.  It  was  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Britons  after  the  Roman 
legions  had  been  withdrawn.  The  old  chroniclers  represent  the  place 
as  utterly  ruined,  and  its  site  not  to  be  traced ;  therefore,  some  have 
doubted  Pevensey  to  be  Anderida,  but  it  is  well  known  that  an- 
cient writers,  living  some  centuries  after  the  events  they  wrote  about, 
were  not  always  correct  in  their  statements  ;  and  the  destruction  of  the 
inhabitants  of  a  place,  and  its  consequent  desolation,  were  quite  enough 
to  qualify  the  exaggerated  terms  in  which  the  overthrow  of  Anderida  is 
spoken  of.  Antiquaries,  from  existing  remains,  and  from  earlier  his- 
torical evidence,  seem  now,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  to  concur  in 
identifying  the  Roman  castrum  with  the  station  Anderida  placed  by 
the  itineraries  next  to  the  west  of  the  Portus  Lemanis. 

The  Saxon  name  of  this  brave  old  place  was  Pevensea,  and  the  Norman 
Peovensale.  Its  first  authentic  mention  in  history  is  792,  when  it  was 
given,  together  with  Hastings,  by  Berodaldus,  one  of  the  generals  of 
King  Offa,  to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Denis,  near  Paris.  In  the  reign  of  King 
Edward  the  Confessor  it  had  only  twenty-two  burgesses,  and  yet  the 
port  was  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  ravaged  by  Earl  Godwin  and 
his  son  Harold,  in  1043,  when  many  ships  were  taken.  In  the  bay  of 
Pevensey,  William  the  Norman,  in  1066,  landed  with  his  army,  a  fleet 
of  900  ships,  with  6c,ooo  men,  including  cavalry,  from  Normandy, 
prior  to  the  decisive  battle  of  Hastings ;  and  it  was  this  port  which 
Swaine,  son  of  Earl  Godwin,  entered  with  eight  ships  on  his  return  to 
England,  after  the  abduction  of  the  Abbess  of  Leominster.  In  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.  the  port  was  still  available,  but  it  soon  afterwardi 
fell  into  decay,  owing  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  sea. 


y 


H 


f^ 


35^  Pevensey  das  tie. 

Of  the  Castle,  the  outer  work  contains  many  Roman  bricks,  and 
much  hemng-bone  work.  The  fortress  was  of  great  strength  :  it  with- 
stood the  attacks  of  William  Rufus's  army  for  six  days,  protecting 
Odo,  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  who  ultimately  yielded  only  from  want  of 
provisions ;  and  it  afterwards  successfully  resisted  the  siege  of  King 
Stephen,  who  personally  superintended  the  attack,  but  met  with  so 
gallant  an  opposition  from  Gilbert,  Earl  of  Clare,  that  he  was  obliged 
to  withdraw  his  forces,  leaving  only  a  small  body  to  block  it  by  sea  and 
land.  It  once  more  resisted  hostile  attacks,  when  it  was  fruitlessly 
assailed,  in  1265,  by  Simon  de  Montfort,  son  of  the  renowned  Earl  of 
*  Leicester.  Again,  when  Sir  John  Pelham  was  in  Yorkshire,  in  1399, 
assisting  Henry,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  to  gain  the  crown,  Pevensey  Castle, 
left  under  the  command  of  Lady  Jane  Pelham,  was  attacked  by  large  ^^ 
bodies  of  the  yeomen  of  Kent,  Surrey,  and  Sussex,  who  iayoui:ed  the  ^^^ 
JMeposed  King  Richard,  and  was  bravely  and  successfully  defended  by 


\  5'^'^  Lady  Jane.     The  Castle  remained  as  a  fortress  till  the  reign  of  Queen 
^W|\.»*'       J  £lizabeth;  two  ancient  culverins,  one  of  which  bears  her  initials,  are 
\        ^i^     >^'ct  preserved.     In  the  Parliamentary  Survey  of  1655,  the  fortress  was 
^Y^         in  ruins,  and  the  ground  within  the  walls  was  cultivated  as  a  garden. 
lA'V^  ^Ve  have  seen  that  Pevensey  was  the  first  scene  of  the  Norman  Con- 


<(^ 


Sy  ... 

quest ;  the  most  momentous  event  in  English  history,  perhaps  the  most 
^  momentous  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Soutliey,  upon  the  conjoint  autho- 
"^  rities  of  Turner,  Palgrave,  and  Thierry,  gives  such  a  version  of  the 
Normans  landing  at  Pevensey,  as  to  decide  its  having  been  a  Roman 
station.  They  landed,  he  says,  at  a  place  called  Pulverhithe.  William 
occupied  the  Roman  Castle  at  Pevensey ;  erected  the  wooden  fort,  the 
materials  of  which  he  had  brought  with  him  ready  for  construction  ; 
threw  up  works  to  protect  part  of  his  fleet,  and  burnt,  it  is  said,  or 
otherwise  rendered  them  unserviceable. 

It  Although  Mr.  Hussey  prefers  the  tradition  that  Caesar  effected  both 
I  his  dcbarcations,  in  the  two  successive  years  of  his  invasions  in  Kent, 
I  as  t!ie  most  likely  to  be  the  brevhsiniui  in  Britamiium  trajectus, 
mentioned  by  him,  Professor  Airy  concludes  them  to  have  taken  place 
at  Pevensey.  If  we  adopt  the  Astronomer  Royal's  theory,  it  will 
increase  our  interest,  as  we  stand  beneath  the  herring-boned  masonry 
of  that  gigantic  ruin,  to  reflect  that  the  two  great  conijuerors  of 
England  here  first  leaped  on  English  shore.  Be  this  as  it  may,  tliere 
arc  few  places  in  England  where  the  antiquary  may  spend  a  pleasanter 
day  than  Pevensey.  The  Castle  of  tlie  "  Eagle  Honour,"  as  it  w^s  called, 
from  its  long  possession  by  the  great  Norman  family  of  De  Aquila,  rises, 
k  jfTcat  medixval  fortress,  in  the  midst  of  tlie  walls  of  a  Romano 


Hastings  Castle.  357 

British  city:  for  Anderida,  the  great  city  of  the  Andred's  Wood,  that 
covered  much  of  ancient  Sussex,  was  (there  can  no  longer  be  much 
doubt)  situated  here.  Courses  of  Roman  tile  remain  in  these  ancient 
walls  ;  upon  which  the  Conqueror  must  have  looked  before  he  gathered 
his  forces  together  and  advanced  along  the  coast  to  Hastings.* 

The  exploration  of  these  remains  was  undertaken  in  the  year  1852 
by  the  two  able  antiquaries,  Mr.  Roach  Smith  and  Mr.  Mark  Antony 
Lower,  the  leading  result  of  which  is  as  follows :  The  castrum,  which 
encloses  some  dozen  acres,  is  by  far  the  most  perfect  Roman  building 
in  this  country.  Nearly  two-thirds  of  the  great  wall,  twenty-five  feet 
in  height,  and  nine  in  width,  with  huge  solid  towers,  remains  almost  as 
perfect  as  ever,  in  defiance  of  time,  of  the  ancient  invaders,  and  ot 
modem  spoilers.  On  the  side  facing  the  sea  there  is  a  bank  of  con- 
siderable elevation,  looking  over  a  second  of  about  half  the  height.  It 
was  inferred  that  these  natural  advantages  were  considered  by  the 
Romans  a  sufficient  substitute  for  stone  walls,  especially  if,  as  it  is 
supposed,  the  sea  flowed  up  to  this  side  of  the  fortress.  The  excava- 
tions have,  however,  shown  that  the  outer  bank  is,  in  fact,  nothing 
more  than  an  overtunied  wall,  now  buried  many  feet  under  the  soil 
and  herbage.  On  this  side  a  small  postern-gate  was  discovered,  and 
one  opposite  to  it  in  the  north  wall ;  the  chief  entrance  is  proved  to 
have  been  the  only  one  for  carriages.  The  castrum  includes  a  fine 
Norman  Castle  partly  formed  out  of  the  Roman  walls,  the  adaptation 
of  which  has  been  well  developed  by  these  researches. 


Hastings  Castle. 

Hastings,  the  second  in  rank  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  is  a  town  of  great 
antiquity;  and,  though  vouched  by  tradition  to  have  been  built  by 
y  Hastings,  the  Danish  pirate,  was  most  probably  in  existence  long  before 
his  time.  Arviragus,  the  British  King,  is  said  to  have  constructed  a 
fortress  at  Hastings  when  he  threw  off  the  Roman  yoke  in  the  lattei 
part  of  the  first  century.  In  the  Saxon  times  it  became  a  flourishing 
town,  for  King  Athelstan,  between  925  and  942,  estabhshcd  here  a 
royal  Mint. 

Standing  on  a  rocky  cliff  upwards  of  400  feet  above  the  sea -level 
to  the  westward  of  the  town,  is  the  Castle ;  its  site  commanded  the 
subjacent  country,  and  was  admirably  situated  for  defence  of  Hastings, 
but  it  seems  extremely  probable,  from  the  situation  of  the  spot,  it  was 


•  Saturday  Rciiitw, 


41   U_,'^^^^^    ^-^-^b^A^^K^t  ^^<^<^j>^('^^a/a   (^^ 


35 o  Hastings  Castle. 

a  fortress  in  very  early  times,  long  before  the  coming  of  the  Normans, 
The  mortar  used  appears  precisely  similar  to  what  may  be  seen  in  the 
old  Roman  walls  still  existing  in  the  county,  being  composed  of  small 
flints  and  pebbles. 
*>/  Who  was  the  founder  of  the  Castle  has  not  been  satisfactorily  ascer- 

tained. It  must  have  been  a  place  of  very  high  importance,  as  we  find 
that,  in  the  reign  subsequent  to  the  Conquest,  that  of  William  Rufus, 
1090,  almost  all  the  bishops  and  nobles  of  England  were  assembled,  by 
I  Royal  Authority,  at  the  Castle  of  Hastings,  to  pay  personal  homage  to 
J  the  King  before  his  departure  for  Normandy.  Although  little  is  known 
of  its  first  origin,  its  successive  owners  can  be  clearly  traced,  fi-om  the 
time  of  William  the  Conqueror,  who  bestowed  it  on  the  Earl  of  Eu, 
by  one  of  whose  descendants  it  was  forfeited  to  the  Crown,  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  HI.  After  several  changes  it  was  granted  by  Henry  IV. 
to  the  Earl  of  W'^estmorland,  with  a  reversion  to  Sir  John  Pelham. 
By  Sir  John  Pelham  it  was  conveyed  to  Sir  Thomas  Hoo,  of  Hoo, 
in  Bedfordshire,  afterwards  created  Baron  Hastings  by  Henry  VI.; 
and  his  descendants  became  Earls  of  Huntingdon.  Henry,  the  last 
descendant  of  this  family,  afterwards  sold  it  in  the  year  1591  for 
25,00c/.  to  Thomas  Pelham,  amongst  whose  descendants  it  has  ever 
since  remained. 

The  area  included  is  about  one  acre  and  one-fifth.  The  walls,  which 
are  nowhere  entire,  average  about  eiglit  feet  thick.  The  gateway,  now 
destroyed,  was  on  the  north  side.  Not  far  from  it,  to  the  westward, 
are  the  remains  of  a  small  tower,  enclosing  a  circular  (light  of  stairs ; 
and  on  the  same  side,  further  westward,  are  a  sallyport,  and  ruins  ot  /  "ilfltv^i 
another  tower.  ^ 

As  a  fortress,  the  south,  or  sea-side,  judging  from  its  present  appear- 
ance, would  appear  not  to  have  had  any  otiicr  defence  than  what  the 
height  ot  the  cliff  afforded.    As  the  cliff  has  been  considerably  removed, 
^  ^Kthe  Castle  has  doubtless  gone  with  it.     On  the  western  side  the  forti- 
^"^■^    fications  consist  of  a  high  wall,  with  lofty   towers,  one  scjuare,  the 
^        other  circular.     Part  of  the   interior  of  the   latter  is  constructed  of 
herring-bone  work.     The  square   tower  which  is  further   south,  has 
openings  deeply  splayed  from  within,  with  the  remains  of  a  sallyport. 
j^^j^ix     The  eastern  jide,  however,  appears  to  have  been  rendered  the  most 
"^  "secure,  for  in  addition  , to  the  towered  gallery,  portcullis,  and  semi- 

circular tower,  there  is'a  ditch  sixty  feet  in  depth  and  one  hundred  feet 
in  width. 

The  north  has,  besides  a  gate,  a  sallyport  and  two  towers,  one  round, 
W'Ui  a  circular  (light  of  Htairs,  tlie  other  square.    This  gate  had  always 


',V,f.^?K 


\ 


Hastings  Castle.  359 

oeen  supposed  to  be  the  site  of  the  original  gate ;  but  on  proceeding 

with  the  excavations  along  the  north  side,  a  gateway  was  discovered, 

about  eight  or  nine  feet  in  width  and  nineteen  in  depth.    This  is  con-  1  \  "^MJ  ^ 

sidercd  to  have  been  the  Keep  gate,  and  there  is  still  remaining  the     '  4AX-<Jt* 

groove  for  the  portcullis,  and  the  hooks  on  which  the  hinges  of  the         l^  7J_ 

gates  were  hung.  ^  iaXJ 

The  Church  of  St.  Mary,  in  the  Castle,  was  also  founded  by  Count 
tobert  of  Eu,  as  proved  by  one  of  the  Records  of  the  Court  ot 
Chancery,  of  the    time   of   Henry  I.  or    Stephen.     St.  Mary's   was 
removed  from  its  original  position  to  another  spot,  where  only  a  few 
nins  now  remain  to  indicate  what  it  once  was.     Rouse  tells  us  that  ^^1  /\  A. 
1094,  King  Williarri^lield'a  great  council  in  the  Castle  of  Hasting^  [   |    \ 
wiich  stood  below  the  cliff,  upon  a  site  which  the  sea  afterwards  over-     -    ^ 
'■    flcwed;    for  the   comparatively  modem    fort    or    Castle  erected  by  ^ 
Milliam  the  Conqueror,  was  a  distinct    building    fi-om    the  Saxon 
Catle  upon  the  cliff,  and  stood  below  the  b^rief'. which  was  then,  for 
the  greater  part,  destioyed  by  the  sea.     In  the  fifth  year  of  this  King, 
,/\'~-\    thcrefore^hey  obtained  the  well  known  charter  empowering  them  to 
^~i^     indose  the  Castle  and  its  precincts  with  walls,  /so  as  to  secure  the 
Church  fi-om  the  irruptions  of  the  sea. 

The  Church  appears  to  have  consisted  of  a  chancel,  side  chapel,  nave,  / 
anc  aisle,  the  total  length  being  one  hundred  and  ten  feet.    The  bases,  !> 
capitals,  and  other  ornaments  found  amongst  the  fragments  are  of  Norman  \ 
arckitecture. 

On  the  occasion  of  the  interior  of  the  Castle  being  excavated  in  the 
yea-  1824,  the  Chapel,  with  the  chapter  house,  deanery,  and  other 
offices  were  discovered,  also  several  stone  coffins  with  skeletons.  ] 

These  ruins  are  interesting  as  marking  the  site  of  a  chapel  in  which 
Thomas  a  Becket,  somewhere  about  1157,  and  William  of  Wykeham, 
.ai    about  1363,  once  conducted  the  services  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and 
which  once  echoed  to  the  voice  of  Anselm  of  Canterbury.* 

Of  the  details  of  the  great  event  which  has  given  Hastings  a  world- 
wide fame,  it  may  suffice  to  say  that,  on  Edward's  death  and  Harold's 
accession  to  the  throne,  William  assembled  a  fomnidable  expedition 
in  the  vast  estuary  of  the  Somme,  overlooked  by  the  old  town  of 
St.  Valeri,  that  weighed  anchor  from  Noyelles-sur-Mer;  he  crossed 
to  Pevensey  Bay  and  disembarked  at  Pulverhythe.  The  stone  on 
which  tradition  says  he  dined  is  still  preserved  in  the  Subscription 
Gardens  of  St.  Leonard's.    Hastings,  it  may  be  influenced  by  Remigius 


•  Mr.  Gant :  Proceedings  of  the  British  Archjeological  Association,  1867. 


36a 


Battle  Abbey. 


of  Fecamp,  opened  its  gates,  though  it  would  appear  that  there  were 
some  isolated  attempts  at  resistance  and  consequent  devastation,  as  we 
see  in  the  Bayeux  tapestry  a  burning  house  close  to  the  Castle  hill,, 
which  it  is  natural  to  suppose  was  set  on  fire  by  the  invaders,  and  no^ 
the  work  of  an  incendiary.     The  lines  of  his  camp  can  still  be  trace</ 1 
in  the  field  to  the  north  of  Lady  Jocelyn's  villa,  immediately  adjoining 
St.  Michael's  parish.     He  ordered — to  quote  the  words  on  the  tapestijr ' 
• — that  a  Castle  should  be  dug  at  Hastings  Chester,  and  underneath  tie 
words  is  the  picture  of  the  Castle  on  the  summit  of  the  hill  wherqit/ 
stands.     The  Castle  in  the  picture  may  have  been,  as  Mr.  Planc^ej 
suggests,  one  of  the  wooden  Castles  the  Conqueror  brought  with  hi^ ; 
but  it  was,  of  course,  only  temporary,  and  was  soon  replaced  by  Ihe 
massive  walls  of  the  present  structure,  which,  as  the  composition  of  ihe. 
mortar  and  other  details  show,  must  have  been  commenced  about  |his 
period.     As  at  Pevensey,  the  Norman  Castle  was  placed  within  the 
area  of  the  older  works. — "Journal  of  the  British  Archaolog'ical  A 

elation,  1867. 

» 

Battle  Abbey. 

Battle  derives  its  name  from  the  memorable  fight  in  1066  betveen 
■\Villiam,  Duke  of  Normandy  and  Harold,  King  of  England,  aiti  is 
built  upon  the  actual  spot  where  the  battle  was  fought.  In  the  i'ear 
succeeding  the  victory,  a  Benedictine  Abbey  was  founded  here  by 
William  the  Conqueror  in  commemoration  of  his  triumph,  who  en- 
dowed it  with  extraordinary  exemptions  and  privileges,  and  is  sad  to 
have  oflTered  up  at  the  altar  his  sword  and  royal  robe  which  he  woiv  on 
the  day  of  his  coronation.  He  founded  the  Abbey  with  the  double  jiew 
of  atoning  for  the  slaughter  of  the  field,  and  of  evincing  his  gratitude 
to  heaven  for  his  success.  Motives  of  superstition  appear  to  have  cpm- 
bincd  with  piety  in  inducing  him  to  this  measure ;  for  a  Sanguelac,  as 
the  Normans  termed  it,  or  bloody  fountain,  is  affirmed  to  have  spiung 
up  here  after  every  shower,  crying  to  the  Lord  for  vengeance  for  the 
immense  efflux  of  Christian  blood  that  had  been  shed  upon  the  sjiot. 
Remigius,  one  of  the  monks  of  Fecamp,  actually  accompaiied 
William  on  the  battle-field,  encouraged  him  to  build  Battle  Abbey,  and 
*'as  made  Bishop  of  Lincoln  as  a  reward  for  his  great  services.  j 

The  establishment  was  designed  on  a  vast  scale ;  the  immediate  prc- 
cmcts  of  the  Abbey  being  a  mile  in  circuit,  and  the  buildings  them- 
selves of  corresponding  magnificence.  King  William  iutendeil  it  lor 
140  monks,  but  his  death  prevented  the  completion  of  iiis  design.    I  le 


\'^ 


Battle  Abbey.  361 

•ettleJ  here,  however,  a  considerable  body  from  the  Benedictine 
Monastery  of  Marmontier,  in  Normandy,  and  was  himself  present  at 
the  consecration  of  the  Abbey  Church,  which  is  reported  by  some 
writers  to  have  been  built  on  the  very  spot  where  Harold  was  slain  , 
or,  according  to  others,  where  his  gorgeous  standard  was  taken.  This 
splendid  prize,  displaying  the  figure  of  a  fighting  wairior,  sumptuously 
wrought  with  gold  and  precious  stones,  the  Conqueror  sent  to  Rome, 
as  a  present  to  the  Pope.  It  is  related  that  the  Duke,  as  he  reposed 
after  the  battle,  dreamed  that  he  heard  a  voice  which  said  to  him — • 
"  Thou  hast  conquered ;  seize  upon  the  crown  and  transmit  it  to  a 
long  posterity." 

Among  the  privileges  and  immunities  granted  by  the  Conqueror  to 
the  Abbey  was  the  right  given  to  the  Abbot  of  pardoning  any  con- 
demned thief  whom  he  should  casually  pass  by  or  meet  going  to  execu- 
tion. The  Conqueror  granted  the  monks  all  the  land  within  the 
compass  of  three  miles  round  the  Abbey,  together  with  the  manor  and 
royal  customs  of  various  places.  The  Abbots  of  Battle,  holding  their 
lands  of  the  King  per  baronium,  were  privileged  to  sit  in  Parliament. 

The  site  of  the  Abbey  at  the  Dissolution  was  granted  to  one  Gilmer, 
who,  after  pulling  down  many  of  the  buildings  for  the  materials,  sold 
the  remainder,  with  the  estate,  to  Sir  Anthony  Browne,  K.G.,  whose 
descendants  converted  a  portion  of  the  edifice  into  a  dwelling  house. 
This  was  afterwards  enlarged  by  the  Webstere,  who,  early  in  the  last 
century  purchased  the  estate  of  Anthony  Browne,  Viscount  Montague, 
and  made  it  their  chief  seat.  At  the  Surrender,  the  State  sword  of  the 
Abbey,  fabricated  for  Abbot  Lodelow,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  was 
delivered  to  Sir  John  Gage,  K.G.,  one  of  the  Commissioners:  it  is  now 
in  the  Meyrick  collection  of  armour. 

Some  of  the  remains  of  the  Monastery  are  preserved  in  the  mansion 
of  the  Websters,  which  is  placed  on  a  gentle  rise,  bounded  by  woody 
hills,  saving  in  front  a  valley  winding  towards  the  sea  at  Hastings.  The 
Abbey  was  mostly  rebuilt  in  the  times  af  the  later  Henries,  and  formed 
a  vast  quadrangle.  The  grand  entrance  gateway  is  the  most  perfect 
part  now  remaining  :  it  is  square,  embattled,  with  octagonal  turrets  at 
each  angle,  and  has  in  front  a  series  of  pointed  arches  and  pilasters  ;  the 
roof  has  been  destroyed.  Some  remains  of  the  monastic  offices,  with 
square  windows  and  embattled  parapets,  adjoin  the  entrance.  The 
Abbey  Church  has  been  destroyed.  Parts  of  the  cloister  arches  remain, 
as  do  the  ruins  of  the  monk's  refectory,  with  a  detached  hall,  now  used 
as  a  barn,  of  great  extent,  in  which,  it  is  supposed,  the  tenants  of  the 
Abbey  were  entertained.     The  hall  has  twelve  long  Pointed  windowi 


362  Battle  Abbey. 

on  one  side,  and  six  on  the  other.  Beneath  is  a  crypt  curiously  vaulted, 
with  elegant  pillars  and  arches.  Several  great  vaults  remain,  in  which 
the  provision  and  fuel  of  this  splendid  foundation  were  once  stored. 
Here  was  formerly  preserved  the  so-called  Roll  of  Battle  Abbey, 
believed  to  be  a  Hst  of  those  eminent  persons  who  accompanied  the 
Conqueror  to  England,  with  other  lords  and  men  of  account,  and 
which  list  was  prepared  by  the  monks,  that  perpetual  prayers  might 
be  offered  for  them,  and  especially  for  those  who  were  slain  in  the 
battle.  Others  believed  it  to  be  a  list  o^ families  who  became  settled 
in  England  at  the  Conquest.  Holinshed  and  Stow  have  both  printed 
copies  of  the  Roll,  but  very  different  from  each  other.  Camden  says ; 
"  Whosoever  considers  this  Roll  well  shall  find  it  always  to  be  forged, 
and  those  names  to  be  inserted,  which  the  time  in  every  age  favoured, 
and  were  never  mentioned  in  the  notable  record  of  Domesday." 
Camden,  however,  seems  to  have  entertained  a  notion  that  there  was 
some  primitive  list  made  at  Battle,  but  lost. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Hunter,  F.S.A.,  has  examined  this  suspected  docu- 
ment very  minutely,  and  he  concludes  that  no  bede  roll  of  the  army- 
was  ever  prepared  ;  nor  was  any  list  of  the  Duke's  host  prepared  for 
purposes  less  formal  and  important  than  to  be  used  in  the  devout 
solemnities  of  the  place  ;  and  that  if  such  a  roll  ever  did  exist  it  has 
long  ago  perished,  as  well  as  all  copies  of  it  or  extracts  fi-om  it.  Still, 
Mr.  Hunter  does  not  deny  there  are  several  lists  of  persons  or  families 
who  are  said  to  have  come  in  with  the  Conqueror,  descended  to  us  from 
Vimes  long  before  the  Reformation,  though  not  according  to  him  near 
the  time  of  the  Conquest ;  nor  does  he  affirm  that  one  or  more  of  those 
may  not  have  been  the  work  of  some  private  monk  of  the  monastery ; 
though  there  is  no  possibility  of  determining  which  of  several  lists  is  the 
work  of  a  monk  of  Battle.  Mr.  Hunter  has  examined  the  ten  reputed 
lists,  which  differ  in  many  respects  from  eacii  other,  are  merely  con- 
jectural, and  come  to  us  without  any  authority  worthy  of  regard.  It 
ha.  Seen  the  good  fortune  of  Battle  Abbey  to  have  afforded  ever  since 
the  Dissolution  a  place  of  residence  to  persons  of  distinction  ;  and  the 
remains  have  been  valued  almost  as  a  sacred  possession,  and  never  more 
than  in  our  time ;  so  that  Professor  Lappenburg  has  jeopardized  his 
high  historical  reputation  in  writing  "  All  the  visible  monuments  of  the 
battle  of  Senlac  and  the  Con(|uest  of  England  are  no  more;  crumbled 
and  fallen  are  the  once  lofty  halls  of  Battle  Abbey,  and  by  a  few 
foundation  stones  in  the  midst  of  a  swamp  are  we  alone  able  to  deter- 
mine the  spot  wlierc  it  once  reaird  its  towers  and  pinnacles."  How  much 
there  is  tba^  is  mere  rhetoric  in  this,  hundreds  of  tourists  can  testify. 


Bramher  Castle.  I'S^ 

There  is  some  traditional  account  of  the  Roll  which  it  may  be  inte- 
resting  to  add.  The  original  Roll  compiled  by  the  monks  ol  Battle 
was  hung  up  in  their  Monastery  beneath  some  Latin  verses,  of  which 
the  following  English  version  W3'5  formerly  inscribed  on  a  tablet  in  the 
parish  church  of  Battle: — 

"  This  place  of  war  is  Battle  called,  because  in  battle  here, 
Quite  conquered  and  overthrown  the  English  nation  were  ; 
This  slaughter  happened  to  them  upon  St.  CeHct's  Day, 
The  year  thereof  (1066)  this  number  doth  array." 

When  the  Montague  family  sold  Battle  Abbey  they  went  to  reside  at 
their  other  seat,  Gowdray  near  Midhurst,  and  thither  the  Roll  is 
thought  to  have  been  carried.  Gowdray  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1793, 
when  the  Roll  is  presumed  to  have  perished,  with  everything  else  cA 
value  which  that  lordly  edifice  contained.  It  must,  however,  also  be 
surmised  that  the  purchaser  of  the  Abbey  would  oart  with  so  precious 
a  document  as  "  the  Roll " — if  such  ever  existed. 


Bramber  Castle. 

Bramber  is  a  decayed  village  in  Sussex,  which  contains  no  other  mark 
of  its  ancient  importance  than  its  ruined  Gastle,  the  history  of  which  is 
strangely  chequered  by  fatalities.  At  the  period  of  the  General  Sur- 
vey in  William  the  Norman's  time,  the  Gastle  was  the  property  of 
William  de  Breose,  who  besides  was  possessed  of  forty  manors  in  the 
county.  The  family  held  their  estates  by  the  service  of  ten  knights' 
fees  for  some  generations.  But  in  the  year  1208  the  loyalty  of  several 
of  the  nobility  being  suspected.  King  John  sent  to  require  hostages  of 
them,  and  William  de  Breose's  children  were  demanded.  These  were 
not  only  refused,  but  his  wife  added  this  remark,  that  "  she  would  not 
trust  her  children  with  the  King  who  had  so  basely  murdered  Prince 
Arthur,  his  own  kinsman."  John,  irritated  at  this  reply,  attempted  to 
have  the  family  seized,  but  they  withdrew  themselves  to  Ireland.  They 
were  afterwards  taken  prisoners  there,  from  whence  they  were  sent  over 
to  England  and  starved  to  death  in  Windsor  Gastle  by  the  tyrant's 
orders,  all  but  William,  who  escaped  to  France,  but  did  not  long 
survive  the  above  catastrophe.  The  insatiate  King,  seizing  the  estates  of 
the  fugitive,  gave  them  to  his  own  son,  Richard,  but  restored  a  portion 
to  William  de  Breose's  son,  Reginald.  John,  his  heir,  dying  by  a  fall 
from  his  horse,  in  Henry  the  Third's  reign,  that  prince's  brother  took 
charge  of  the  Gastle  again ;    but  this  was  only  during  the  mmority  of 


364  Bodiam  Castle. 

the  son  of  the  deceased,  to  whom  it  was  surrendered  when  he  became 
of  age.  At  length  it  devolved  to  the  family  of  Mowbray,  but  was 
forfeited  by  John  de  Mowbray  together  with  his  hfe  to  Edward  II., 
when  he  joined  the  nobles  against  the  Spensers ;  it  was  restored  by 
Edward  III.  to  his  son,  who  attended  him  to  France.  By  the  death  of 
John,  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  fell  fighting  for  Richard  III.  in  Bosworth 
Field,  the  Castle  and  manor  being  forfeited  again  to  the  Grown,  were 
given  to  Thomas  Lord  Delaware  and  his  heirs. 


Bodiam  Castle.* 

This  Castle  v.'as  founded  by  Sir  John  Dalyngrudge,  of  East  Grin- 
Btcad,  a  gallant  soldier  in  the  wars  of  Edward  III.,  and  of  a  company 
of  Free  Companions ;  he  having  manied  the  daughter  and  heiress  of 
John  de  Wardiew,  who  had  brought  him  in  dowry  the  manor  of 
Bodiam.  In  1380  he  was  appointed  one  of  a  great  commission  to  inquire 
r\  into  the  estates  of  the  realm,  and  the  expenses  of  the  household  of  the 
youthful  King;  and  in  1385  he  obtained  permission  from  Richard  II.  to 
erect  the  Castle  on  the  estate  of  his  wife ;  he  was  also  made  Governor 
of  the  Tower  and  Custos  of  London ;  but,  being  suspected  of  being 
too  lenient  to  the  Londoners,  he  was  soon  superseded. 

The  licence  to  fortify  the  Castle  bears  date  1385,  and  is  the  first  and 
1    almost  only  instance  of  leave  being  given  to  make  a  Castle.    The  term, 
I    "  for  resistance  a^iinst  our  enemjes,"  was  no  idle  one  ;  for  the  French 
\  hacH  within  the  last  twenty  years,  repeatedly  ravaged  the  neighbourhood 

I     of  Hastings,   Fairlight,  and  Winchelsea  ;    eight  years  previously  had 
besieged  the  valiant  Abbot  of  Battle  in  that  town;  and  in  1380  they 
'     burnt  Rye,  Winchelsea,  Hastings,  and  Portsmouth. 

The  Castle,  then,  is  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the  river  Rother, 
and  is  surrounded  by  a  perfect  moat,  which  is  crossed  on  the  nortl) 
side  by  a  causeway :  on  this  was  formerly  placed  a  barbican,  of  whicli 
some  ruins  still  remain.  This  was  an  advanced  work  strengthened 
.with  a  portcullis,  .ind  was  of  such  size  as  to  contain  a  suflicient  numher 
x/ lof  men  to  prevent  a  surprise.  It  was  also  commanded  by  the  entrance 
towers.     Between  the  barbican  and  the  Castle  was  the  drawbridge. 


•  Abridged  from  an  able  paper,  by  J.  C.  Savery,  Esq..  in  the  Journal  of  the 
British  Arrhirological  Association,  Dec.  31,  1868,  Hodiam  is  interesting  as  a 
Castle  combininR  at  once  the  p.ilace  of  the  feudal  lord  and  tlie  fortress  of  the 
kniijht.  The  founder,  who  hacl  passed  most  of  his  best  years  in  France,  had,  no 
doubt,  there  learned  the  art  of  making  his  house  comfortable  as  well  as  secure, 


Bodiam  Castle.  365 

The  Castle  itaelt,  which  we    now  approach,  is  nearly  square,  with    - 
circular  towers  sirty-five  feet  high  at  the  four  corners,  connected  by 
embattled  curtains^   in  the  centre  of  each  of  which  square  towers  rise 
to  an  equal  height  with  the  circular. 

The    gateway  is    a  majestic  structure,  composed  of  two  flanking   \/, 
towers,  defended  by  numerous  oilctts  for  arrows,  embattled  parapets, 
and  deep  machicolations,  whence  stones  and  other  missiles  could  be 
hurled  on  the  heads  of  an  attacking  force.     Immedifltely  over  the  gate- 
way are  three  shields  (recently  covered  by  ivy),  bearing  the  arms  of 
Bodiam,  Dalyngrudge,  and  Wardieu.     The  ancestral  arms  were  often 
placed  over  the  principal  entrance  of  a  Castle,  to  denote  the  descent  of 
the  owner.    Above  this  was  the  crest  of  the  Dalyngrudges— a  unicorn's 
head.     A  huge  portcullis  still  frowns  grimly  over  us  as  we  enter  a    ^ 
vaulted  chamber,   about  thirty  feet  by  ten,  at  the  intersections  of  the  , 
groinings  of  which  are  openings  into  chambers  above,  through  which 
melted  lead,  pitch,  oil,  or  water  could  be  showered  down  on  assailants 
below;    for,  the    first  door   and  portcullis  being    passed,  there  was 
another,  half  way  through  the  passage,  and  yet  a  third,  to  be  overcome      ', 
before  entrance  could  be  obtained  into  the  court-yard.     Mr.  Lower —   J 
no  mean  authority — says,  "  I  do  not  recollect  any  other  instance  of 
such  multiplied  defences  in  the  gateway  of  a  Castle  of  this  period."  ^  ^ 

Having  passed  through  the  gateway  we  perceive  that  the  latter  half  of 

the  passage  supported  a  balcony.     The  southern  side  of  the  quadrangle,  < ^  h<  \y 

opposite,  is  occupied  by  the  windows  of  the  great  hall,  with  oriel,  ^y'    ..-—  *^ 
passage,  and    the    still    remaining    elegant  windows  of  the  buttery*^ 
and   kitchen.    "The  whole  couityard^war^irrdunded  by  buildings, 
usually  oTtw'O  stories  in  height.     Turning  l^a  the  left  as  we  enter  the  "ni  • 

quadrangle  we  find  a  fine  series  of  chambers,  which  were  probably  the  Xj^"^"^ 

apartments  of  the  officers  of  the  fortress,  and  one  smaller  on  the  corner 
which  communicated  with  the  north-east  tower.  These  towers  had 
each  three  stories  of  hexagonal-shaped  charnbers. 
"Proceeding  southward,  we  next  come  to  the  chapel,  which  was  lighted 
by  a  window  of  three  lights  over  the  altar  (which  still  remains  in  a 
dilapidated  condition),  and  probably  by  a  larger  one,  looking  on  to  the 
courtyard.  Next  the  chapel  comes  the  residence  of  the  owner  of  the 
Castle  ;  the  first  apartments  we  enter  have  been  termed  the  bower,  and 
such  was  probably  the  application.  They  were  probably  the  rooms 
in  which  Dame  Elizabeth  Dalyngrudge  received  her  lady  guests  {circa 
1390),  and  in  which  she  spent  her  spare  time,  surrounded  by  her 
maidens,  engaged  in  embroidery  or  other  household  employment,  which,  , 

with  the  lute  and  song,  whiled  away  the  hours.    The  principal  sleeping    v-/ 


r^ 


^ 


^A>c^'^ 


\ 


/ 


365  Bodiain  Castle, 

apartments  were  on  the  first  story,  or  in  the  square  tower,  in  one  room 
of  which  are  two  curious  stone  cupboards,  which  were  probably  used 
for  depositing  deeds,  jewels,  or  other  valuables.  Yet  more  south  was 
the  presence-chamber,  in  which  the  guests  assembled  previous  to  enter- 
ing the  banqueting-hall.  This  was  always  adorned  with  the  richest 
tapestry,  and  embroidered  cushions,  the  work  of  the  ladies  of  the 
family ;  it,  as  well  as  the  hall,  had  usually  an  oriel  or  bay  window. 
Beyond  this  was  a  room,  probably  the  private  apartment  of  the  Lord  of 
the  Castle,  and  at  the  south-east  angle  we  find  the  principal  round  tower, 
with  a  groined  basement.  The  hall  \vas  a  noble  room,  40  feet  by  24 
feet,  at  the  upper  end  of  which  was  a  raised  platform  or  dais,  on  which 
the  lord  and  his  principal  guests  dined.  At  one  end  of  the  dais  was  a 
window,  and  in  a  comer  behind  the  bay-window  was  the  buffet,  where 
the  plate  used  at  table  was  kept.  Other  tables  and  benches  were  placed 
on  the  floor  of  the  hall,  which  was  covered  by  rushes,  for  the  retainers 
and  guests  of  a  lower  degree.  The  roof  was  of  oak,  or  chestnut,  and 
in  the  centre  was  a  small  turret  or  aperture  to  carry  off  the  smoke  from 
the  fire  which  was  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  floor  on  a  raised  hearth. 
The  walls  were  covered  with  tapestry,  to  about  five  feet  from  the 
ground.  The  principal  entrance  to  the  hall  was  at  the  lower  end,  where 
a  space  was  parted  off  by  a  screen,  extending  the  whole  width  of  the 
hall,  and  supporting  a  gallery  in  which  minstrels  played  during  the  feast. 
In  the  centre  of  the  screen  were  double  doors,  communicating  with  the 
kitchen,  buttery,  &c.  The  butteiy-hatch  consisted  here  of  three 
arches,  through  which  the  viands  passed  from  the  kitchen  to  the  hall 
The  buttery  was  so  called,  because  the  butts  and  bottles  of  wine  which 
were  required  for  the  table  were  kept  there,  not  because  butter  was 
made  there,  as  absurdly  stated  in  one  Dictionary  of  Architecture.  The 
minor  divisions  of  the  buttery,  pantry,  and  cellar  which  probably  existed 
here  are  just  traceable.  We  now  pass  on  to  the  kitchen,  a  fine  room 
18  feet  scjuare,  w'th  two  huge  fireplaces,  which  no  doubt  blazed 
merrily  on  many  a  festive  occasion.  Our  forefathers  enjoyed  good 
living,  and  though  their  dishes  varied  much  from  those  we  are  in  tho 
habit  of  seeing,  their  mode  of  cookery  did  not  differ  much.  Chaucer 
sayi 

"  A  Cook  they  hadden  with  them  for  the  nonce, 

To  boil  the  chikencs  and  tho  marric  bones  ; 

And  Foudrc  marchant,  tart,  and  galingalc: 

Wcl  coudc  he  knowe  a  draught  of  London  Ale. 

He  coudc  rostc,  and  scthc,  and  broil,  and  frie, 

Mukcn  tnortrcwcs,  and  wcl  bak  a  pie." 

Such,  then,  was  Bodiam  in  the  day  of  its  power,  although  now  there 


Arundel  Castle.  367 

18  little  more  presented  to  our  view  than  the  outer  walls,  covered  with 
ivy.  In  the  first  century  of  its  existence  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Sir 
Thomas  Lewknor,  who,  having  opposed  the  usurpation  of  Richard  III., 
was  attainted  of  high  treason,  and  the  Castle  was  besieged  by  the 
royal  forces,  under  Thomas,  Earl  of  Sun-ey.  The  earthworks  in  the 
field  north  of  the  Castle  are  probably  due  to  this  period.  After  the 
overthrow  of  Richard  at  Bosworth,  Sir  Thomas's  attainder  was  of 
course  reversed,  but  it  was  not  until  1542  that  his  son  obtained  full 
possession.  From  that  time  till  1643  the  Castle  remained  in  the  hands 
of  the  Lewknors,  who,  however,  never  resided  there ;  and  in  that  year 
it  was  destroyed  by  the  Parliamentary  forces,  under  Waller,  who,  after 
he  had  taken  Arundel  Castle,  despatched  soldiers  to  take  away  and  sell 
all  the  materials  of  the  castles  of  the  Royalists  of  Sussex.  Since  that 
period  Bodiam  has  gradually  crumbled  before  the  power  of  rain,  frost, 
and  storm ;  still,  even  now,  above  two  hundred  years  after  its  ruin, 
enough  remains  to  show  the  substantial  manner  in  which  the  feudal 
lords  of  the  time  of  the  Black  Prince  raised  their  mansions. 


O 


Arundel  Castle. 

Of  the  town  of  Arundel,  on  the  river  Arun,  a  short  distance  from 
the  sea,  the  most  striking  feature  is  the  ancient  Castle,  which  gives  to 
its  possessor  (now  the  Duke  of  Norfolk)  the  title  of  Earl  of  Arundel. 
This  instance  of  a  peerage  attached  to  the  tenure  of  a  house  is  now  an 
anomaly.  Mr.  Planche,  Somerset  Herald,  in  his  paper  on  the  Earls  of 
Sussex,  says,  "in  1067,  the  Conqueror  having  established  himself  on 
the  English  throne,  passed  over  to  Normandy,  whence  he  returned, 
after  a  short  stay,  with  his  queen,  Matilda;  and  it  was  on  this  occasion 
that  he  was  accompanied  by  Roger  de  Montgomery,  whom  he  is  said 
to  have  made  first  Earl  of  Arundel,  and  subsequently  Earl  of  Shrews- 
bury. Here,  then,  we  have  one  of  the  most  early  instances  of  the  title 
of  Earl  being  derived  from,  or  attached  to,  a  small  town,  not  even  the 
principal  city  in  the  county  ;  and  what  is  more  remarkable,  although 
we  find  him  occasionally  styled  Earl  of  Chichester,  the  title  of  Arundel  . 
appears  to  be  the  one  originally  conferred  upon  him ;  and  the  name 
and  dignity  of  Earl  of  Arundel  was  solemnly  decided,  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI.,  to  belong  to  the  possession  of  the  Castle  of  Arundel,  the 
tenure  of  which  was  determined  to  constitute  the  earldom  without 
any  other  form,  patent,  or  creation  whatsoever." 

From  Domesday  Survey  we  gather  that  the  Castle  of  Arundel,  in 


368  Arundel  Castle. 

the  time  of  King  Edward  the  Confessor,  yielded  forty  shillings  for  a 
mill,  twenty  shillings  for  three  entertainments,  and  twenty  shillings  for 
a  "  pasty,"  which  was  suggested  to  mean  a  herring-pie,  as  Yarmouth 
paid  for  a  thousand  herrings  for  the  see  of  Chichester  in  the  time  of 
Henry  II.  We  see,  therefore,  that  there  was  a  Castle  at  Arundel  in 
Saxon  times ;  and  it  is  asserted  that  the  gift  of  this  Castle  and  the 
honours  to  Roger  de  Montgomery  constituted  him  Earl  thereof.  Of 
his  successors  we  have  only  space  to  notice  that  Brooke,  the  York 
Herald,  relates  an  absurd  legend,  invented,  no  doubt,  to  account  for 
the  lion  rampant  in  the  arms  of  William  de  Albini,  Earl  of  Arundel 
and  Sussex.  In  a  joust  held  at  Paris  he  behaved  himself  so  valiantly 
that  the  Queen  Dowager  of  France  fell  in  love  with  him,  and  desired 
him  in  marriage,  which  he  refused,  saying  that  he  had  already  given  his 
word  and  faith  unto  another  lady  in  England.  This  denial  the  Queen 
took  in  evil  part,  and  contrived  to  get  him  into  a  cave  in  her  garden 
where  she  had  caused  a  lion  to  be  put  to  devour  him,  which,  when  he 
saw,  he  furiously  set  upon  him,  thrusting  his  arm  into  the  lion's  mouth, 
pulling  out  his  tongue;  which  done,  he  conveyed  himself  into  England 
and  performed  his  promise  to  Queen  j^lidis.  In  token  of  this  valiant 
and  noble  act,  William  assumed  to  have  for  his  amis  a  lion  gold,  in  a 
field  gules,  which  his  successoi-s  ever  since  have  continued.  To  this 
story,  Vincent  replied,  tauntingly,  that  he  had  heard  of  a  similar  tale 
of  one  that,  thrusting  his  arm  in  at  the  mouth  (of  the  lion)  took  him 
by  the  tail  and  turned  him  the  wrong  side  outwards.  Mr.  Planch^, 
Somerset  Herald,  believes  the  lion  to  have  been  assumed  in  consequence 
of  the  marriage  of  the  Earl  with  the  widow  of  King  Henry  I.,  in  whose 
reign  we  have  the  earliest  authentic  evidence  of  golden  lions  being 
adopted  as  a  personal  decoration,  if  not  strictly  an  heraldic  bearing. 

In  1 139,  the  Empress  Maud  was  hospitably  received  at  Arundel 
Castle,  after  her  landing  at  Little  Hampton,  by  Adeli/.a,  relict  of 
Henry  I.  King  Stephen,  apprised  of  her  movements,  appeared  sud- 
denly before  the  Castle  with  a  well-appointed  army.  The  Queen 
Dowager  sent  him  this  spirited  message:  "She  had  received  the 
Empress  as  her  friend,  not  as  his  enemy ;  she  had  no  intention  of  inter- 
fering in  their  quarrels,  and  therefore  begged  the  King  to  allow  her 
royal  guest  to  quit  Arundel,  and  try  her  fortune  in  some  other  part  of 
England.  But,"  added  she,  "  if  you  are  determined  to  besiege  her 
here,  I  will  endure  the  last  extremity  of  war  rather  than  give  her  up, 
or  Bufl'er  the  laws  of  hospitality  to  be  violated."  Her  reqiest  was 
granted,  and  the  Empress  retired  to  Bristol. 

In  1397,  at  Arundel  Castle,  Richard,  Ear)  of  Arundel,  with   his 


Arundel  Castle.  369 

brother,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  the 
Earls  of  Derby  and  Warwick,  the  Earl  Marshal,  his  son-in-law,  the 
Abbot  of  St.  Albans,  and  Prior  of  Westminster,  were  accused  of 
plotting  to  seize  the  person  of  Richard  II.,  and  to  put  to  death  all  the 
Lords  of  his  Council.  The  Earl  of  Arundel,  on  the  evidence  of  the 
Earl  Marshal,  was  executed. 

Arundel  Castle  stands  high,  upon  a  steep  circular  knoll,  partially 
artificial,  and  commands  a  sea-view  as  far  as  the  Isle  of  Wight.  The 
entrance  gateway,  with  drawbridge  and  portcullis,  was  originally  built 
in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  and  some  of  the  walls  and  the  Keep  are  of  the 
ancient  Castle.  In  the  Civil  War  between  Charles  and  his  Parliament, 
the  fortress  was  held  and  garrisoned  by  the  latter.  It  was,  however,  taken 
by  Lord  Hopton,  in  1643,  surrendering  to  him  at  the  first  summons; 
and  two  months  after  it  was  suddenly  retaken  by  Sir  William  Waller. 
From  that  time  it  continued  in  ruins  until  its  restoration  was  completed 
by  Charles  Howard,  eleventh  Duke  of  Norfolk,  in  1815,  at  the  cost  of 
more  than  half  a  million  of  money.  The  Keep  is  a  circular  stone 
tower,  sixty-eight  feet  in  diameter,  with  a  dungeon  in  the  middle,  a 
vault  about  ten  feet  high,  accessible  by  a  fliglit  of  steps.  We  have 
described  several  Keeps  in  this  work,  but  we  believe  that  of  Arundel  to 
be  the  most  perfect  in  England.  Its  stately  owls  must  ever  command 
respect,  and  are  better  known  than  the  Arundel  tenure. 

"  Barony  by  tenure  implied  that  the  owner  had  got  it  by  the  sword, 
or  in  reward  for  bravery,  and  that  what  he  had  got  by  the  sword  he 
would  hold  by  the  sword.  Title  went  with  lands  ;  but  the  last  time 
this  fact  was  recognised  was  in  1433,  when  Sir  John  Fitz-Alan,  holding 
the  town  and  Castle  of  Arundel,  claimed  to  be  Earl  of  Arundel  by 
such  tenure,  and  the  claim  was  admitted,  although  only,  it  seems, 
through  a  special  Act  of  Parliament.  Sir  John  was  one  of  our  soldiers 
in  France,  where  the  Regent  Bedford  made  him  Duke  of  Touraine;  he 
lost  a  leg  in  the  wars,  and  he  was  first  buried  at  Beauvais,  in  143.3. 
One  Elton,  an  Englishman,  brought  the  body  home,  at  an  expense  of 
1400  mai'ks.  As  the  family  refused  to  reimburse  that  sum,  Elton  kept 
the  body  in  pawn  for  about  a  score  of  years  till  it  was  at  last  redeemed 
and  ceremoniously  buried  in  the  chapel  at  Arundel.  The  tomb  wa-i 
opened  in  1859,  and  then  bystanders  saw  the  old  warrior,  without  his 
leg,  the  losing  of  which  had  helped  him  to  a  French  dukedom." — Fin- 
laiont  Hereditary  Dignities. 


B  B 


370 


Hurstmonceux  Castle. 

Hurstmonceux,  or  the  Wood  of  the  Monceaux  (a  Norman  family), 
never  since  the  Conquest  changed  owners  by  purchase  till  1708.  It  ii 
about  fi\e  miles  distant  fi-om  Pevensey,  and  seven  miles  south-east  of 
Battle,  the  site  of  the  Conquest.  A  higher  antiquity  is,  however, 
claimed  for  the  site  of  Hurstmonceux ;  for,  beneath  a  print  of  the 
Castle,  engraved  in  1737,  we  find  it  described  as  ne^r  the  Caer  Pt;n- 
savel  Coit  of  the  Britons,  whence  we  infer  Pevensey.  The  former  place 
was  called  Hyrst  by  the  Saxons,  from  its  situation  among  woods ;  and 
Sussex  having  been,  from  the  earliest  times,  one  of  the  most  luxuriantly 
wooded  districts  of  England,  we  find  the  name  of  bursi  given  to  other 
places  in  the  county  besides  Hurstmonceux ;  as  Billing^Mrj/,  Buck- 
burst,  CodUjurst,  Crowburst,  Daneburst,  Hurst  Perpoint,  hsLmherburst, 
Medburjt,  Outburst,  Ticeburst,  and  Wakeburst ;  and  Hurst  is  the 
name  of  one  of  the  old  Sussex  families. 

Soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  Normans,  the  present  Hurstmonceux 
became  the  seat  of  a  family,  who,  from  the  place,  took  the  name  of 
De  Hyrst,  or  Herst  From  the  posterity  of  Walleran  de  Herst,  who 
assumed  the  name  of  Monceaux,  (which  name  also  has  from  that 
time  been  annexed  to  the  place,)  it  came  by  marriage  to  the  Fiennes, 
by  one  of  whom  the  Castle  was  erected. 

One  of  the  possessors  of  Hurstmonceux  came  to  a  mournful  end  in 
1524,  in  a  heedless  night  fray,  in  stealing  a  neighbour's  deer.  The  Castle 
was  built  by  Sir  Roger  Fiennes  in  1440.  He  was  summoned  to  Parlia- 
ment, and  declared  Baron  Dacre  in  1458.  In  1484  he  died,  leaving  his 
grandson,Thomas,  only  twelve  years  old,  his  heir.  He  seems  to  have  been 
a  disreputable  character,  for  he  was  committed  to  the  Fleet  Prison  on 
the  charge  of  harbouring  suspected  felont  y\d  for  negligence  in  punish- 
ment of  them.  The  next  Lord  Dacre,  his  grandson,  in  1525,  succeeded 
to  his  grandfather's  great  wealth  at  the  age  of  seventeen.  His  education 
appears  to  have  been  much  neglected,  and  although  he  was  introduced 
at  Court,  and  mamcd  at  an  early  age  a  lady  of  noble  birth,  a  Neville, 
daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Abergavenny,  he  was  evidently  a  reckless,  if 
not  a  profligate  young  man.  Holinshed,  the  chronicler,  describes  how 
"  three  gentlemen,  John  Mantell,  John  Froude,  and  George  Roidon,  and 
others,  accompanied  by  Lord  Dacre,  passed  from  his  house  at  Hurst- 
monceux to  the  park  of  Niciiolas  Pelham,  Esq.,  at  Laughton,  in  the 
same  county  of  Sussex,  in  the  night,  where  they  intended  to  hunt ;  and 
«t  a  place  called  Pikhaie,  tliey  found  three  men  qu;frrelling ;    ?.  fray 


Hurstmonceux  Castle.  yj\ 

ensued,  between  Lord  Dacre  and  his  three  companions,  and  the  three 
others,  one  of  whom  received  such  hurt  that  he  died  thereof  in  two 
days  (May  2).  Whereupon,  Lord  Dacre,  and  his  three  companions, 
and  divers  others,  were  indicted  for  murder.  Lord  Dacre  was  tried  by 
his  Peers,  and  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  On  the  eighth 
of  June,  the  sheriffs  of  London  were  ready  at  the  Tower  to  receive  the 
prisoner  and  lead  him  to  execution  on  Tower-hill ;  but  a  gentleman  of 
the  Lord  Chancellor's  house  came,  and  in  the  King's  name  commanded 
to  stay  the  execution  till  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  which  caused 
many  to  think  that  the  King  would  have  granted  his  pardon.  Never- 
theless, at  3  o'clock  in  the  same  afternoon,  he  was  brought  out  of  the 
Tower,  and  delivered  to  the  Sheriffs,  who  led  him  on  foot  betwixt 
them  unto  St.  Thomas  Waterings  (near  the  second  mile-stone,  or  what 
is  now  called  the  Old  Kent  Road),  where  he  died,  as  did  the  other 
three  gentlemen,  Mantell,  Frowdys,  and  Roydon.  Lord  Dacre  was  not 
past  four  and  twenty  years  old,  and  "  being  a  right  towardlie  gentleman, 
and  such  a  one  a  manie  had  conceived  great  hope  of  better  proofe,  no 
small  amount  of  lamentation  was  made  ;  the  more,  indeed,  for  that  it 
was  thought  he  was  induced  to  attempt  such  follie  which  occasioned 
his  death,  by  some  light  heads  that  were  then  about  him." 

Archdeacon  Hare  asserts  that  it  is  difficult  to  make  out  the 
extent  of  Lord  Dacre's  criminality,  and  thinks  "  the  law  was  strained 
in  order  to  convert  him  into  an  accomplice  ;"  but  Mr.  M.  A.  Lower, 
xwihQ  Sussex  Archaeological  Collections,  vol.  xix.  170-279,  has  shown 
by  documents  and  illustrations  that  "  this  young  nobleman,  of  ancient 
and  illustrious  ancestry,  perished  ignobly,  the  victim  of  his  own  follies." 
That  he  was  put  to  death  at  the  instance  of  certain  courtiers  who 
gaped  after  his  estate,  is  a  statement  utterly  destitute  of  proof,  and  the 
record  shows  no  evidence  of  unfairness  or  injustice  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. 

Mr.  Lower  notes  how  many  persons  of  station  in  the  neighbourhood 
were  unjustly  sought  to  be  involved  in  this  foul  transaction.  Sir  Nicholas 
Pelham,  a  man  of  high  county  reputation,  was  thus  aggrieved.  The  scene 
of  the  tragedy  was  not  at  Laughton  ;  for  Sir  Nicholas  kept  his  herd  of 
deer  seven  miles  distant.  There  is  no  evidence  whatever  (says  Mr.  Lower) 
of  any  personal  ill-feeling  between  the  Knight  of  Laughton  and  the  Lord 
of  Hurstmonceux.  But  the  young  peer,  reckless  of  reputation  and  the 
future,  ventured  upon  this  expedition  without  the  slightest  desire  of 
slaying  his  neighbour's  gamekeeper.  The  affair  must,  however,  have 
been  premeditated,  since  ten  days  intervened  between  the  meeting  at 
which  this  attack  upon  Sir  Nicholas  Pelham's  deer  was  arranged  and 


3/2  Hurstmoiiceux  Castle. 

the  accomplishment  of  the  purpose.*  "Mrs.  Gore,  in  her  tragedy,  Dacre 
cfthe  South,  has  made  him  the  victim  of  the  tyranny  and  jealousy  of  the 
high-spirited  knights  whom  he  had  undoubtedly  wronged.  It  must  have 
been  a  painful  position  for  Sir  John  Gage,  who  hved  at  Firle,  within  a 
few  miles  of  Lord  Dacre,  and  who  must  have  known  the  young  noble- 
man intimately,  to  be  the  instrument,  among  others,  in  the  execution  of 
his  office  as  Constable  of  the  Tower,  in  bringing  him  to  justice  and  to 
death." 

Hurstmonceux  Castle  was  of  brick,  with  window  and  door-cases, 
copings  and  water-tables,  of  stone ;  and  as  bricks  did  not  come  into 
general  use  until  the  fifteenth  century,  this  must  have  been  one  of  the 
earliest  brick  buildings  (after  the  Roman  period)  in  the  country,  and 
described  by  Horace  Walpole  as  having  remained  to  his  time  in  its 
"  native  brickhood,  without  the  luxury  of  whitewash."  Cowdray, 
towards  the  north-west  corner  of  the  same  county,  also  of  brick,  was 
built  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.;  but  this  rather  resembles  an  em- 
battled mansion  than  a  Castle.  This  employment  of  bricks  is  singular, 
seeing  that  good  stone  is  found  in  the  county.  Hurstmonceux  ('astle 
continued  in  the  Fiennes,  till  with  Margaret,  granddaughter  of  Thomas 
Lord  Dacre,  it  passed  to  Sampson  Lennard,  Esq.,  whose  descendant, 
Thomas  Lennard,  Earl  of  Sussex,  lived  much  here;  but  a  few  years 
before  his  death  he  sold  it,  and  about  1777,  all  except  the  principal 
entrance  was  taken  down,  and  the  best  materials  used  in  building  a 
mansion  in  the  neighbourhood. 

Two  towers,  eighty-four  feet  high,  flank  the  principal  doorway,  over 
which  was  formerly,  within  a  compartment,  the  alant  or  wolf-dog 
sejant,  holding  the  banner  of  Fiennes.  The  corbels  of  the  parapet  are 
tolerably  perfect ;  but  the  machicolations  have  disappeared,  except  from 
the  wall  of  the  wing  to  the  left.  Judging  from  this  fragment,  the  entire 
Castle  must  have  impressed  the  traveller  with  the  magnificence  of 
feudal  state,  in  which  "safe  bind"  seems  to  have  been  the  leading 
maxim.  The  age  of  the  Castle  is  less  than  four  centuries  ;  but,  from 
its  substantial  materials,  (for  brick  is  much  more  lasting  than  is  com- 
monly supposed,)  it  would  have  remained  for  ages  a  characteristic  of 
the  wealth  of  the  early  lords  of  Sussex,  had  it  not  been  dismantled. 

Gough,  in  his  additions  to  Camden,  describes  the  Castle  and  its 
three  courts:  the  hall  and  chapel  and  kitchen,  which  reached  to  the 
upper  story  ;  and  its  oven  in  the  bakehouse,  fourteen  feet  in  diameter. 
Under  the  eastern  comer  was  an  octigonai  room,  formerly  a  prison. 


•  The  locus  in  quo  of  this  murder  is  well  known,— at  'Jrs  bottom  of  two 
Acids,  and  near  the  River  Cuckmcre,  in  Hcllingly  Wood. 


Coivdray  House.  ^^-^ 

having  in  the  middle  a  stone  post  with  an  iron  chain.  Staircases 
curiously  constructed  of  bricks,  without  any  wood  work,  led  to  the 
galleries,  in  each  window  of  which  was  painted  the  alant  or  wolf-dog, 
the  ancient  supporter  of  the  Fiennes  anns.  The  grand  staircase 
occupied  an  area  forty  feet  square. 

The  style  is  Perpendicular,  or  Tudor  ;  and  this  was  probably  one  of 
our  latest  built  Castles,  properly  so  called ;  for  about  this  time,  or 
earlier,  embattled  manor-houses  became  common,  and  the  fortress  gave 
place  to  the  castellated  mansion  ;  which  was,  in  its  turn,  rendered 
better  adapted  to  the  wants  and  conveniences  of  more  peaceful  times. 


Cowdray  House. 

Very  near  to  Midhurst,  in  Sussex,  which  probably  received  its  name 
from  being  m  the^  midst  of  woods  {hurst  being  a  Saxon  word  for  a  i         . 
wood),  are  the  remains  of  Cowdray  House,  once  the  splendid  seat  of  1   r\  •  i) 
the  family  of  Montague.     Reduced  to  its  present  state  by  the  accident   ' 
of  fire,  and  not  by  the  hand  of  time,  it  still  presents  a  fair  front,  and 
might  be  mistaken  for  a  habitable  mansion,  standing  in  a  noble  park 
of  800  acres,  abounding  in  fine  old  trees,  particularly  Spanish  chestnuts. 

There  was  anciently  a  manor-house  at  Cowdray,  belonging  to  the 
Bohuns ;  but  it  aftenvards  became  the  property  of  the  Crown,  and  was 
granted  by  Henry  VII.  to  John  Lord  Montague.  On  the  division 
of  his  property  it  passed  to  Lucy,  his  third  daughter,  whose  second 
husband  was  Sir  Anthony  Brown,  a  person  of  ancient  family  and 
Grand  Standard  Bearer  of  England.  William  Fitzwilliam,  Earl  of 
Southampton,  the  son  of  this  lady  by  a  former  husband,  was  the  founder 
of  Cowdray  ;  and  W.S.,  the  initials  of  this  nobleman,  may  be  seen 
carved  in  stone  on  the  ceiling  of  the  entrance  porch.  On  his  dying 
without  issue  the  estate  went  to  his  half-brother,  Sir  Anthony  Brown, 
whose  son,  the  first  Viscount  Montague,  greatly  improved  and  enlarged 
the  house.  1 

This  noble  residence  was  twice  honoured  by  a  visit  from  royalty. 
King  Edward  VI.,  in  1547,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  speaks  of  Cowdray 
as  "  a  goodly  house  of  Sir  A.  Brown's,"  where  he  was  "  marvellously, 
yea  rather  excessively,  banketted."  And  there  is  an  old  printed  descrip- 
tion of  the  "  honourable  entertainment"  given  to  Queen  Elizabeth,  at 
Cowdray,  by  Lord  Montague  in  159 1,  when  she  was  addressed  as  "The 
Miracle  of  Time,"  "Nature's  Glory,"  "Fortune's  Empress,"  "The 
World's  Wonder !" — and  stepping  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous 


374  Cowdray  House. 

it  states  that  on  the  following  day  she  was  "  most  royallie  feasted  ;  the 
proportion  ot  breakfast  was  three  oxen,  and  one  hundred  and  fortie 
geese."  During  the  week  of  the  Queen's  stay,  she  killed  three  or  four 
deer  with  a  crossbow  in  the  park,  and  received  addresses  from  per- 
sons disguised  as  "  pilgrims,  with  their  russet  coats  and  scallop  shells," 
and  "  wild  men  clad  in  ivie,"  and  "anglers  at  goodlie  fish-ponds."  On 
going  through  the  arbour  to  take  horse  for  Chichester,  Her  Majesty 
knighted  six  gentlemen,  including  my  lord's  second  son,  Sir  George 
Brown.  It  may  appear  remarkable,  that,  though  a  determined  Papist, 
he  should  have  received  such  marks  of  esteem  and  confidence  from 
Elizabeth  as  are  implied  by  his  being  appointed  as  her  ambassador  to 
Spain,  and  by  her  gracious  visit  at  his  family  mansion. 

Lord  Montague  also  brought  a  troop  of  two  hundred  horse  to  the 
Queen  at  Tilbury,  commanded  by  himself,  his  son  and  grandson,  "when 
Europe  stood  by  in  perfect  suspense  to  behold  what  the  craft  of  Rome, 
the  power  of  Philip,  and  the  genius  of  Farnese  could  achieve"  by  the 
invincible  Armada  "  against  the  Island  Queen,  with  her  Drakes  and 
Cecils." 

In  wandering  over  the  park  at  this  day,  we  can  scarcely  imagine  that 
we  look  upon  the  very  trees  under  which  sat  the  lion-hearted  Queen. 
Cowdray  was  built  in  the  form  of  a  square,  in  the  centre  of  which  was 
the  gate,  flanked  by  two  towers.  There  were  throughout  the  mansion 
ten  bucks,  life  size,  each  bearing  a  shield  with  the  aiTns  of  England,  and 
under  it  the  arms  of  Brown ;  besides  others  with  small  banners  of  arms 
supported  by  their  feet.  The  hall  and  staircase  were  pictured  with  the 
story  of  Tancred  and  Clorinda  from  Tasso. 

The  parlour  was  adorned  by  Holbein,  or  his  pupils.  There  were 
two  long  galleries,  in  which  were,  coloured  in  stucco,  the  twelve 
Apostles,  life-size;  and  many  family  pictures,  and  sacred  and  historical 
pieces,  some  brought  from  Battle  Abbey.  The  paintings  on  the  walls 
were  saved  during  the  Civil  Wars  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  by  a  coat 
of  plaster  laid  over  the  stucco ;  but  one  of  the  officers  quartered  here, 
exercising  his  weapon  against  the  wall,  broke  out  of  one  of  the  groups 
the  head  of  Henr^  VIII.,  which  was  afterw.irds  replaced. 

This  beautiful  and  massive  structure  was  destroyed  by  fire,  September 
24, 1793,  through  a  charcoal  fire  left  by  a  workman,  when  no  individual 
member  of  the  building  escaped  injury  except  the  kitchen.  Thft 
ruins  of  the  west  side  of  this  magnificent  mansion  contain  the  most 
perfect  traces  of  the  general  architecture,  and  exhibit  proof  of  its 
amazing  strength.  Within  the  quadrangle,  and  about  the  prcmipes, 
lie  several  fragments  of  sculpture  and  broken  columns,  presenting  to 


Cowdray  House.  375 

the  reflective  mind  fit  emblems  not  only  of  human  glory  departed, 
but  of  the  fate  which,  even  at  the  time  of  the  lamentable  loss,  yet  im- 
pended over  the  family,  by  a  sad  coincidence  exemplifying  that 

' '  When  sorrows  come,  they  come  not  single  spies. 
But  in  battahons  !" 

A  few  weeks  after  this  stately  pile  was  destroyed,  the  noble  owner, 
the  young  Viscount  Montague,  during  the  life  of  his  mother,  and 
before  the  intelligence  of  the  fire  could  reach  him,  was  drowned, 
together  with  his  fellow-traveller,  Mr.  Sediey  Burdett,  brother  of  Sir 
Francis  Burdett,  in  rashly  venturing  to  navigate  the  falls  of  the  Rhine, 
at  SchafFhausen,  in  October,  1793.  The  present  family  residence  is  at 
Cowdray  Lodge,  a  small  but  elegant  house  in  the  park,  about  a  mile 
from  the  ruins. 

Sir  Anthony  Brown  was  a  gallant  soldier  of  fortune,  who  experienced 
more  of  the  favour  of  Henry  VIII.  than  fell  to  the  lot  of  any  other 
subject.  In  the  fourteenth  year  of  Henry  VIII.  (1523),  he  was 
knighted  for  his  valour  in  the  assault  and  taking  of  the  town  of  Morlaix 
in  Brittany,  when,  with  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  Lord  High  Admiral,  he 
conveyed  from  Southampton  the  Emperor  Charles  to  the  port  of 
Bi&cay,  and  this  seems  to  have  been  the  commencement  of  the  good 
and  great  fortune  he  enjoyed  in  his  lifetime.  We  also  find  through 
Holinshed,  that  two  years  after,  being  one  of  the  esquires  of  the  King's 
body,  he  was  one  of  the  challengers  during  the  feast  of  Christmas 
before  the  King  and  his  Court  assembled  at  the  Palace  of  Greenwich 
for  jousts  and  tournaments  and  other  feats  of  arms ;  the  following 
year  he  was  made  Lieutenant  of  the  Isle  of  Man  and  the  other  islands 
belonging  thereto,  during  the  minority  of  the  Earl  of  Derby,  whose 
family  continued  to  hold  sovereign  rights  in  Mona  till  the  Civil  War 
ended  them  by  the  fall  of  the  island  into  the  hands  of  the  Cromwellians, 
after  Lady  Derby's  heroic  defence. 

In  1539,  King  Henry  made  Sir  Anthony  Master  of  the  Horse,  a 
post  considered  of  a  very  high  character  in  those  days ;  this  office  was  not 
a  permanent  one,  but  the  King,  lavishing  great  favour  on  Sir  Anthony, 
made  him  Master  of  the  Horse  for  life.  We  have  elsewhere  spoken  of 
King  Henry's  grant  to  Sir  Anthony  of  "  the  house  and  suite  of  the  late 
monastery  of  Battle  in  com.  Sussex,  to  him  and  his  heirs  and  assigns 
for  ever,"  the  greatest  evidence  yet  offered  to  him  of  his  sovereign's 
continued  regard. 

Another  instance  of  the  attachment  exhibited  by  Henry  towards  Sir 
Anlbony  Brown  may  be  found  in  the  fact,  that  in  11^40,  four  yearg 


37°  Cowdray  House. 

after  his  marriage  with  Jane  Seymour,  who  died  in  childbirth,  lie 
entrusted  to  Sir  Anthony  the  somewhat  dehcate  task  of  representing 
him  at  the  Court  of  John  of  Cleves,  whose  sister  Anne,  Henry  had 
agreed  to  marry,  as  she  was  a  Protestant  princess,  and  it  suited  Henry's 
views  at  that  time  to  con-sider  himself  one  also.  At  Cowdray  Castle, 
before  the  fatal  fire  which  destroyed  that  palatial  residence  many  yeai-s 
afterwards,  there  used  to  be  a  portrait  of  Sir  Anthony  Brown,  in  the 
court  suit  which  he  had  donned  for  the  occasion  of  personating  his 
master  as  bridegroom  when  he  was  acting  as  proxy  for  him  after  the 
marriage  ceremony  had  been  performed,  one  leg  being  arrayed  in  white 
satin  for  the  purpose  of  being  thrust  into  the  bed  of  the  princess,  in 
token  of  the  real  husband's  rights  over  his  wife. 

Horace  Walpole,  who  was  at  Cowdray  Castle  in  1749,  describing 
the  portrait  of  Anthony  Brown  in  his  wedding  proxy  suit,  thus 
remarks  after  his  quaint  and  satirical  fashion.  "  He  is  in  blue  and  white ; 
only  the  right  leg  is  entirely  white,  which  was  robed  for  the  act  of 
putting  into  bed  to  her.  But  when  the  King  came  to  marry  her,  he  only 
put  his  leg  into  bed  to  kick  her  out,"  using,  by  the  way,  expressions  of 
a  most  unkingly  character,  which  Walpole  discreetly  omits. 

Sir  Anthony  died  on  May  6,  1548,  at  Byfleet  House,  Surrey,  which 
he  had  built  for  himself.  He  was  buried  in  the  ancient  family  vault  at 
Battle  Abbey,  where,  in  the  chancel,  is  the  noble  tomb  of  white 
marble,  once  oniamented  with  gold  and  colour,  although  little  of 
either  now  remains.  Two  recumbent  figures  are  on  the  top  of  the 
tomb,  which  is  of  an  altar  character.  Sir  Anthony  in  his  mantle,  with 
collar  and  star,  as  a  Knight  of  the  Garter,  is  in  full  armour,  his  head 
resting  on  a  helmet,  and  at  his  feet  a  greyhound,  chained  and  gorged  with 
a  coronet  of  gold.  His  first  wife,  Alice,  daughter  of  Sir  John  Gage,  is 
by  his  side  in  robes  and  coif,  her  head  resting  on  a  cushion,  beneath  a 
handsome  and  very  rare  canopy,  which  to  this  day  attests  the  full  beauty 
of  its  design  and  execution.  At  her  feet  is  a  small  dog  with  a  collar. 
Underneath,  in  compartments,  are  coats  of  aiTns  of  the  families  of 
Brown  and  Gage,  ornamented  with  several  cherubs  curiously  cut  in 
marble  and  painted ;  and  around  and  about  the  upper  edge  of  the  tomb 
is  an  inscription  recording  the  date  of  the  death  of  Lady  Alice,  but  oddly 
enough  leaving  out  the  date  of  his  own,  which  has  led  many  to  believe 
the  tomb  was  ordered  in  Sir  Anthony's  life-time. 

I>l()yd  thus  sums  up  the  character  of  this  great  man,  of  whose  inte- 
resting exploits  and  romantic  history  a  considerable  volume  might  be 
written.  "Three things  facilitate  all  things;  i.  knowledge,  2.  temper, 
3.  lime.      Knowledge  our  kniglit  had,  cither  of  his  own   or  olhera 


Cowdray  House.  377 

whom  he  commanded;  in  whatever  he  went  about,  laying  the  ground  of 
matters  down  in  writing,  and  debating  them  with  his  friends  before  he 
declared  himself  in  council.  A  temperance  he  had  that  kept  him  out  of 
the  reach  of  others,  and  brought  others  within  his.  Time  he  took, 
always  driving,  never  being  driven  by  his  business,  which  is  rather  a 
huddle  than  a  performance  when  in  haste ;  there  was  something  that 
all  admired,  and  which  was  more,  something  that  all  were  pleased  with 
in  this  man's  actions.  The  times  were  dark,  his  carriage  so  too ;  the 
waves  were  boisterous,  but  he  the  solid  rock  or  the  well  guided  ship 
that  could  go  with  the  tide.  He  mastered  his  own  passions,  and  others 
too,  and  both  by  time  and  opportunity ;  therefore  he  died  with  that 
peace  the  State  wanted,  and  with  that  universal  repute  the  statesmen  of 
these  troublesome  times  enjoyed  not." 

From  a  Booke  of  Order  and  Rules,  preserved  in  MS.  at  Easebourne 
Priory,  and,  no  doubt,  saved  from  the  fire  at  Cowdray,  we  gain  a 
curious  insight  into  the  mode  of  life  of  a  nobleman  of  position  and 
power  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  Here  is  a  most 
amusing  scene:  — 

"  Ten  o'clock  has  just  struck,  and  the  household  is  mustering  in  the 
magnificent  Buck  Hall,  it  being  '  covering  time,'  or  the  hour  for  pre- 
paring the  tables  for  dinner.  The  steward,  in  his  gown,  is  standing  at 
the  uppermost  part  of  the  hall,  over  against  his  appointed  table,  sur- 
rounded by  most  of  the  chief  officers  and  some  visitors ;  occasionally 
also  travellers,  who  had  availed  themselves  of  the  hospitality  of  those 
days.  The  tables  are  neatly  covered  with  white  cloths,  salt-cellars,  and 
trenchers,  under  the  supervision  of  the  usher  of  the  hall.  The  yeomen 
of  the  ewry  and  pantry,  conducted  by  the  yeoman  usher,  pass  through 
to  the  great  dining  chamber.  When  they  arrive  at  the  middle  of  that 
room  they  bow  reverentially  (although  no  one  else  be  present),  anA 
they  do  the  same  upon  approaching  the  table.  The  usher,  kissing  his 
hand,  places  it  on  the  centre  of  the  dining-table,  to  indicate  to  his  sub- 
ordinate of  the  ewry,  who  kisses  the  table,  where  the  cloth  is  to  be 
laid.  The  yeoman  ot  the  pantry  then  steps  forth,  and  places  the  salt, 
trenchers  for  my  lord  and  lady,  rolls,  knives  "  hafted  with  silver,"  and 
spoons,  making  a  little  obeisance,  or  inclination  of  the  head,  as  each 
article  is  laid  down,  and  a  low  bow  when  he  has  finished.  The  trio 
then  severally  make  solemn  reverences,  and  retire  in  the  same  order  as 
they  arrived.  Next  in  succession  comes  the  yeoman  of  the  cellar,  who 
dresses  the  sideboard  or  buffet  (cup-borde)  with  wines,  flagons, 
drinking  cups,  and  such  vessels  as  are  consigned  to  his  charge. 
The   yeoman   of  the  buttery   follows   him,  and  brings  up  beer  and 


37 S  Laves  Castle,  and  Priory. 

ale,  and  an-anges  the  pewter  pots,  jugs,  and  so  forth,  on  the  sideboard 
or  buffet." 

The  dinner-time  has  now  fully  come,  and  the  lord's  commands 
being  taken  by  a  gentleman  usher,  who  knocks  respectfully  at  the  door 
of  his  lord's  apartments,  the  dishes,  with  great  state  and  careful 
watching,  are  carried  forward,  and  placed  upon  the  table  in  the  dining 
chamber,  where,  soon  after,  the  viscount  leading  the  viscountess,  and 
followed  by  their  gentlemen  and  gentlewomen,  proceed  to  their  seats 
at  the  table,  and  the  banquet  begins. 


Lewes  Castle,  and  Priory. 

Sussex  is  thickly  studded  with  objects  of  antiquity,  few  of  which  are 
better  known  than  the  remains  of  the  ancient  Castle  of  Lewes.  Of  the 
town,  the  records  commence  with  the  Roman  sway,  when  Lewes  is 
thought  to  have  been  a  station  ;  and  large  quantities  of  Roman  coins 
have  been  found  here  at  different  times. 

The  origin  of  the  Castle  is  said  to  have  been  a  considerable  time 
before  the  Conquest,  and  has  been  attributed  to  Alfred.  Athelstan  esta- 
blished two  Mints  at  Lewes,  considered  to  be  an  indication  of  great 
consequence  at  that  period.  The  town  and  its  suburbs  had  formerly 
thirteen  churches,  which  are  now  reduced  to  six. 

The  Castle  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  having  had  tnuo  keeps  raised  on 
mounds,  and  enclosed  within  its  walls:  one  at  the  western  extremity 
remains  tolerably  perfect,  and  hangs,  clothed  with  ivy,  over  a  street  of 
the  town.  Very  little  of  the  original  architecture  of  the  fortress  is,  how- 
ever, to  be  seen,  the  building  having  been  modernized  in  its  repairs.  A 
large  square  tower  at  the  entrance,  probably  of  the  fourteenth  or  fif- 
teenth century,  with  machicolations,  is  probably  the  most  ornamental 
feature  of  the  structure.     The  great  gateway  is  still  entire. 

"Mount  Harry"  perpetuates  the  discomfiture  of  Henry  \\\.  by  the  in- 
surgent barons,  under  De  Montfort,  at  the  battle  of  Lewes,  on  the  14th 
of  May,  1 264.  Mr.  Blaauw  has  given  us  a  minute  account  of  it :  how 
Prince  Edward,  with  his  division  of  the  Royal  army,  was  victorious  in 
the  early  part  of  the  day,  but  lost  it  by  pursuing  too  far  the  Londoners 
to  whom  he  was  opposed,  and  bore  an  especial  gruiigc,  for  having  "  in- 
sulted the  Queen  his  mother  on  her  way  by  water  one  day  from  the 
Tower  to  Windsor,  and  thrown  stones  ami  tlirt  at  her;"  how  the 
Barons  were  ordered  to  wear  white  crosses  on  their  backs  and  breasts, 
to  show  Ihcy  fought  for  justice;  how  the  King  was  routed  and  fled  to 


Lewes  Castle,  and  Priory.  379 

the  Priory,  and  the  Prince  remained  with  the  Barons  as  an  hostage  for 
the  performance  of  the  treaty  they  agreed  on;  how  the  "Mise"  of 
Lewes  was  carried  out,  and  how  Prince  Edward  afterwards  escaped  by 
the  swiftness  of  his  horse,  and  avenged  his  father  at  Evesham. 

"  Here  stood  for  many  ages  the  wealthy  and  magnificent  Priory  of 
Lewes,  founded  by  William  of  Warren,  to  whom  the  Conqueror  had 
given  his  daughter  Gundreda  in  marriage.  The  noble  patrons  had  set 
out  in  a  spirit  of  religious  fervour  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Rome,  but  were 
diverted  from  their  purpose  by  the  wars  then  raging  between  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope.  So  they  turned  aside  to  the  famed  monastery 
of  Cluny,  and  prevailed  on  the  good  Abbot  there  to  send  them  over  a 
bevy  ot  monks  to  take  charge  of  their  new  institution.  Straight  the 
stately  structure  arose,  and  for  five  centuries  received  countless  treasures 
into  its  coffers,  so  that  it  became  the  wealthiest  foundation  in  the  south. 
Then  came  the  great  reverse— the  Dissolution;  and  all  its  greatness 
passed  away  and  was  forgotten,— all  but  a  slab  forming  Gundreda's 
marble  tombstone,  richly  sculptured  in  bas-relief  .which  was  found  about 
a  century  ago  in  the  chancel  of  a  neighbouring  church.  The  discovery 
of  its  most  interesting  monument  was  reserved,  as  in  so  many  other  /^ 
cases,  for  humble  instruments.  The  land  had  passed  through  the  com-  ^  vui^O^^ 
pulsory  clauses  of  a  Railway  Act  into  the  unromantic  clutches  of  the 
London,  Brighton,  and  South-Coast  Company,  and  the  navvies  scraped 
their  pickaxes  by  chance  one  day  against  the  veritable  leaden  coffins  of 
the  noble  founders.  Lewes,  ever  the  head-quarters  of  Sussex  archaeo- 
logy, was  in  a  ferment,  and  so  was  the  county.  A  fitting  receptacle 
was  soon  devised  for  the  bodies.  They  had  been  found  in  the  parish  of 
Southover  (and  certainly  may  be  said  to  have  gained  a  legal  settlement 
there,  if  anywhere), — in  Southover  they  should  remain.  A  small  Norman  >/ 

chapel  was  accordingly    built — '  Gundreda's  Chapel ' — adjoining   the   ^ 
mother-church  ;  and  there  lie  the  cottins  "sTdS  tjy  Side,  open  to  any  one 
to  inspect.    The  beautiful  black  tombstone   is   reclaimed,   and  laic 
decently  on  four  encaustic  tiles." — M.  A.  Loiver, 

Twenty  years  after  the  recovery  of  the  bones  of  Gundreda  from  the 
Priory  remains,  the  coffin  of  the  ynntlifMl^Hanf^htpr  nf  the  r)aniR|i  T^jng 
Canute  was  discovered  at  the  Saxon  church  of  Rosham,  near  Chichester,  "^  d-a-*-^^ 
ffiirlng  some  excavations  in  front  of  the  chancel  arch.  Bcneatli  a  slab 
of  stone  was  found  a  small  stone  coffin  On  the  lid,  7  in.  thick,  being 
raised,  the  form  of  the  child  could  be  distinctly  seen.  The  figure  was 
3  ft.  9  in.  in  height ;  the  bones,  although  reduced  to  a  white  dust, 
could  be  traced.  No  jewellery  was  found.  Tradition  had  long  pointed 
to  this  spot  as  the  burial-place  of  the  youthful  Princess. 


^ 


a-^f^ 


380 


Chichester  Cathedral. 

**  Chichester  Cathedral,"  says  Southey,  "  is  a  very  interesting  pile 
on  many  accounts,  and  a  much  finer  building  than  books  or 
common  report  had  led  me  to  expect."  The  original  edifice  was 
founded  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  finished 
before  the  close  of  it.  It  was  burnt  down  in  1 1 14,  and  after  being 
restored  was  a  second  time  partially  destroyed  by  fire  in  1186. 
The  greater  part  of  the  original  building,  however,  remained  unin- 
jured, so  far  at  least  as  the  walls  and.  arcades  were  concerned. 
SefTrid  II.,  who  was  bishop  m  1199,  resolved  to  engraft  a  new 
superstructure  on  the  old  walls,  and  to  give  to  that  superstructure 
the  architectural  character  in  style  and  ornament  which  prevailed 
at  the  time.  The  result  was  that  in  Sefi"rid's  additions  there  is 
much  more  lightness  and  symmetry  than  in  the  original  structure. 
The  work  was  completed  about  the  year  1204,  at  which  time 
Chichester  Cathedral  may  be  described  as  consisting  of  the  nave 
with  its  single  aisles  ;  the  centre  arcade  with  its  low  tower  and 
transept ;  and  the  choir.  To  these  many  additions,  including  that 
of  a  spire,  were  made  during  the  three  succeeding  centuries. 

Occupying  a  confined  area  in  the  middle  of  a  parish  churchyard, 
and  surrounded  by  buildings,  this  cathedral  is  peculiarly  unfortu- 
nate in  site  and  elevation.  The  tower  with  its  spire,  which  ex- 
hibited both  magnificence  and  beauty  in  a  more  or  less  distant  view 
of  the  city,  produced  but  a  tame  effect  when  viewed  from  the  im- 
mediate precincts.  So  great  also  was  the  demolition  of  the  exter- 
nal architecture  o*  the  cathedral  by  Cromwell's  Ironsides  during 
their  occupation,  and  so  careless  and  inartistic  the  manner  in  which 
the  restoration  was  conducted,  that  the  general  appearance  of  the 
edifice  has  suffered  more  than  that  of  most  cathedrals  with  a  simi- 
lar history. 

The  nave,  which  in  its  original  simplicity  must  have  had  a  fine 
effect,  has  suffered  in  modern  times  by  restorations.  Its  propor- 
tions have  been  dwarfed  and  its  tone  deteriorated  by  the  scrolls  and 
flowers  in  fresco  and  gaudy  colours  with  which  Bishop  Sherborne 
(16th  century)  caused  it  to  be  "  adorned."  Here  are  also  to  be  seen 
a  number  of  escutcheons  with  legends  in  the  Gothic  character,  such 
as — "  Manners  makyth  Man,  Quoth  William  Wykeham."  This 
cathedral  is,  after  York,  the  broadest  in  England — its  nave  being 
91  feet  broad,  while  that  of  York  is  103  feet. 


Chichester  Cathedral.  381 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  this  cathedral  remained  in  a  perfect 
state,  as  to  repair  and  embellishment,  until  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  But  its  glory  was  then  destined  to  depart  from  it 
— at  least  for  many  generations.  On  the  29th  December,  1642,  the 
Parliamentary  forces  under  Sir  William  Waller  gained  possession 
of  the  city.  Respecting  the  injury  done  to  the  cathedral  by  the 
inithless  soldiery  on  this  occasion,  an  eye-witness,  then  Dean  of 
Chichester,  gives  the  following  statement  : — "  Sir  William  Waller 
entered  the  church  on  St  Innocents  Day,  1642.  The  marshal! 
and  some  other  officers  having  entered  the  cathedral-church,  went 
into  the  vestry;  there  they  seized  on  the  vestments  and  ornaments 
of  the  Church,  together  with  the  consecrated  plate,  Src.  ;  they  left 
not  so  much  as  a  cushion  for  the  pulpit  or  a  chalice  for  the  sacra- 
ment. Having  in  person  executed  the  covetous  parts  of  the  sacri- 
lege, they  leave  the  destructive  and  spoiling  part  to  be  finished  by 
the  common  soldiers.  These  breaking  down  the  organ  and  dash- 
ing the  pipes  with  their  pole-axes,  scofifingly  said,  '  Hark  !  how  the 
organs  goe .'"  They  break  down  the  railes  of  the  altar  and  the 
tables  of  the  commandments ;  and  no  wonder  that  they  should 
break  the  commandments  in  representation,  who  had  before  broken 
them  all  over  in  their  substance  and  sanction.  They  then  stole  the 
surplices  and  tore  the  prayer-books  ;  defaced  and  mangled  the 
kings  and  bishops  as  high  as  they  could  reach.  One  of  them 
picked  out  the  eyes  of  King  Edward  the  Sixth,  saying  that  all  this 
mischief  came  from  him  when  he  established  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer.  After  the  public  Thanksgiving  on  the  Sunday  following, 
the  sermon  being  ended,  they  ran  up  and  down  the  church  with 
their  swords  drawn,  defacing  the  monuments  of  the  dead,  hacking 
and  hewing  the  seats  and  stalls,  and  scratching  the  painted  walls  : 
Sir  W.  Waller  and  the  rest  of  their  commanders  standing  by  as 
spectators  and  approvers  of  these  barbarous  impieties.  Sir  W. 
Waller,  wary  man  as  he  is,  and  well  known  not  to  be  too  apt  to 
expose  himself  to  danger,  stood  all  the  while  with  his  sword  drawn, 
and  being  asked  by  one  of  his  troopers,  what  he  meant  by  standing 
in  that  posture,  answered,  *  To  defend  himself !'  .  .  .  Sir  Arthur 
Hazlerigge  demanded  the  keys  of  the  Chapter  House  ;  and  having 
received  intelligence  from  a  treacherous  servant  of  the  church, 
where  the  remainder  of  the  church  plate  was,  he  commanded  the 
soldiers  to  take  down  the  wainscot,  they  having  crowes  for  that 
purpose.  Which,  when  they  were  doing,  Sir  Arthur's  tongue  was 
not  enough  to  express  his  joy ;  it  was  operative  at  his  very  heels 


282  Chichester  Cathedral. 

by  dancing  and  skipping  !  Marke  !  what  musicke  it  is  lawful  for 
a  Puritan  to  dance  to  !" 

Between  1677  and  1680,  1680/.  having  been  contributed  for  the 
purpose,  the  restoration  of  Chichester  Cathedral  was  begun. 

Among  the  monumental  remains  of  this  edifice  are  to  be  noted  a 
number  of  exquisite  tablets  by  Flaxman.  One  of  these,  in  memory 
of  Collins,  a  native  of  Chichester,  represents  the  poet  sitting  pen- 
sively, in  one  of  those  intervals  of  relief  from  the  malady  that 
darkened  his  later  years,  and  bending  over  the  pages  of  the  Bible, 
while  his  lyre  and  his  manuscripts  lie  neglected  by  his  side.  The 
design  is  no  less  happy  and  appropriate  than  the  execution  is 
perfect  in  its  broad  simplicity  and  Grecian  grace.  To  the  beautiful 
tablet  is  appended  Hayley's  fine  epitaph,  concluding  with  the  lines— 

"  Who  joined  pure  faith  to  strong  poetic  powers, 
Who,  in  reviving  reason's  lucid  hours 
Sought  on  one  book  his  troubled  mind  to  rest, 
And  rightly  deemed  the  Book  of  God  the  best." 

The  allusion  in  the  last  line  is  to  the  anecdote  related  by  Doctor 
Johnson,  who,  in  his  biography  of  Collins,  states  that  the  poet, 
toward  the  evening  of  his  day,  withdrew  from  study,  and  retained 
no  other  book,  as  a  constant  companion,  but  the  English  Testa- 
ment. When  Johnson  took  up  the  book,  out  of  curiosity  to  see 
what  "  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend"  a  man  of  letters  adhered  to 
so  exclusively,  Collins  remarked,  "  I  have  but  one  book  ;  but  that 
is  the  best." 

The  "  restorations"  of  Bishop  Sherborne,  of  which  mention  has 
already  been  made,  resulted  in  something  much  more  serious  than 
the  burlesquing  of  a  nave,  solemn  in  tone  and  massive  in  propor- 
tions, by  a  scries  of  feeble  scrolls  and  "  lively"  paintings.  The 
spire  of  the  cathedral,  which  was  added  toward  the  end  of  the  four- 
teenth century,  sprang  from  the  central  tower,  resting  upon  the 
usual  piers.  But  Bishop  Sherborne,  finding  occasion  to  construct 
a  number  of  choir  stalls,  cut  away  the  lower  portions  of  the  north- 
west and  south-west  piers  supporting  the  central  tower,  for  the 
purpose  of  obtaining  additional  space.  The  whole  superincumbent 
mass  of  the  tower  and  spire  were  now  supported  partly  by  piers  and 
partly,  where  the  piers  had  been  tampered  with,  by  mere  wooden 
props.  When  the  recent  restoration  of  the  cathedral  was  com- 
menced in  1859,  it  was  consequently  found  that  the  piers  of  the 
central  tower  were  very  insecure.  During  the  following  year  the 
piers  were  still  further  weakened  by  the  unavoidable  strain  of  the 


Chichester  Cathedral.  383 

ivorks  of  restoration.  Cracks  began  to  appear  in  them,  the  arches 
above  were  disturbed,  and  finally,  during  the  gale  of  the  21st 
February,  1861,  "the  rubble  which  formed  the  core  of  the  south- 
west pier  began  to  pour  out,  a  fissure  was  seen  to  run  Hke  lightning 
up  the  spire,  and  almost  in  an  instant,  the  whole  sunk  gently  down, 
like  the  shutting  up  of  a  telescope,"  the  vertical  position,  however, 
being  maintained  to  the  last.  No  loss  of  life  attended  this  un- 
toward accident,  which,  however,  might  have  happened  any  time 
these  two  hundred  years,  and  when  the  building  was  full  of  people. 
It  was  immediately  resolved  to  have  the  spire  rebuilt.  25,000/. 
was  soon  subscribed,  chiefly  by  the  gentry  and  clergy  of  Sussex, 
and  large  additional  sums  subsequently  flowed  in.  The  foun- 
dations of  the  new  piers  were  laid  at  a  depth  of  thirteen  feet  in  a 
bed  of  concrete,  and  consist  of  blocks  of  Purbeck  stone  laid  in 
cement.  The  cathedral  has  a  rich  choir,  and  portraits  of  the  Eng- 
lish sovereigns  from  the  Conquest  to  George  I.,  and  of  the  bishops 
down  to  the  Reformation.  The  present  spire,  it  may  be  added,  is 
300  feet  high. 


384 


HAMPSHIRE. 
Winchester  Castle  and  Palace. 

Winchester  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  towns  in  England :  its  origin 
is  lost  in  the  fables  of  tradition.  The  Britons  are  said  to  have  called  it 
Caer  Givent,  or  the  "White  City  ;  the  Romans,  by  whom  it  was  first 
subdued,  named  it  Fenta  Belgarum ;  the  Saxons,  who  were  the  next 
possessors,  named  it  Witanceaster,  which  has  become  Winchester ;  in 
Latin  deeds  and  by  the  Latin  writers,  it  is  called  Wintonia.  It 
flourished  under  the  Romans,  who  enclosed  it  with  massive  walls  ot 
flint  and  mortar. 

The  Castle  of  this  city  has  been  celebrated  for  some  centuries  past, 
as  having  been  founded  by  the  renowned  British  King  Arthur  in  the 
year  523.  This,  however,  is  a  palpable  error,  that  has  arisen  from  con- 
founding the  history  of  the  city  with  Caer  Gwent,  or  Winchester  of 
Monmouthshire,  an  ancient  city  which  has  long  been  destroyed,  and 
which  appears  to  have  been  actually  the  residence  of  Arthur.  The  former 
was  in  519  conquered  by  Cerdic  the  Saxon,  who  afterwards  made  it 
the  seat  of  his  government ;  and  it  continued  to  be  the  capital  of  the 
West  Saxons  till  Egbert,  the  first  King  of  the  whole  Heptarchy,  was 
crowned  here,  and  then  it  became  the  metropolis  of  England.  It  was 
frequently  plundered  and  in  the  oossession  of  the  Danes.  In  934, 
Co.brand,  a  gigantic  Dane,  was  killed  nere  m  single  combat  by  Guy,  Earl 
of  Warwick.  In  1002,  at  Winchester,  began  the  general  massacre  of 
the  Danes,  by  order  of  Ethelred  the  Unready ;  when  every  woman 
throughout  the  kingdom  murdeicd  her  Danish  bedfellow,  by  maiming: 
him  in  the  hamstrings,  or  by  cutting  his  throat ;  in  memory  of  which 
event  a  festival  called  Hocktyde  was  annually  observed.  It  nevertiie- 
less  continued  to  be  the  capital  of  the  successive  Saxon  Kings  till  101.^, 
when  Sweyn,  the  Danish  King,  obtained  possession  of  England,  and 
W  inchester  became  the  seat  of  his  government.  Three  years  later, 
Canute  became  sole  King. 

After  the  Norman  Conquest  Winchester  continued  to  be  thecapitaL 
It  was  surrounded  by  strong  walls;  and  William  the  Conciueror  built 
«  Castlt  on  llic  west,  though  there  must  have  been  a  Castle  previously^ 


Winches /cr  Castle  and  Palace.  385 

since,  in  1066,  the  degraded  Stigand,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  was 
confined  here  by  oi'der  of  William ;  another  Castle  was  subsequently 
erected  for  the  residence  of  the  Bishop,  on  the  east ;  there  were  also  an 
extensive  palace,  and  numerous  mansions  of  the  nobility  ;  a  cathedral, 
three  monasteries  of  royal  foundation,  and  a  very  large  number  of 
churches.  The  Castle  was  enlarged  and  strengthened  by  King  Stephen, 
whose  army,  in  1 142,  recovered  it  from  the  Empress  Maud,  after  a 
long  and  severe  siege,  when,  to  save  herself  from  being  taken  prisoner, 
she  caused  herself  to  be  carried  out  as  a  corpse,  in  a  leaden  coffin. 
In  the  Civil  War,  at  the  end  of  King  John's  reign,  the  Castle  was  taken 
by  the  French  Dauphin  and  the  confederate  Barons,  though  it  appears 
to  have  resisted  the  fury  of  the  latter,  wlien  they  afterwards  sacked  the 
city,  in  the  reign  of  John's  son  and  successor,  Henry  III.  It  was  after- 
wards made  use  of  as  a  state  prison,  and  for  holding  the  Assizes  of  the 
itinerant  judges;  though  it  continued  to  be  also  a  royal  palace,  whenever 
the  Sovereign  resided  in  Winchester,  as  was  always  occasionally  the 
practice,  until  within  a  few  late  reigns.  On  one  occasion,  Henry  III. 
here  acted  the  part  of  a  judge  in  a  despotic  manner,  by  ordering  the 
Castle  gates  to  be  suddenly  shut  upon  the  principal  inhabitants  there 
assembled,  impanelling  a  jury  on  the  spot,  in  order  to  discover  the 
numerous  and  powerful  criminals  who  laid  waste  the  neighbourhood, 
and  cast  the  jury  hard  bound  into  the  dungeon  beneath  the  Castle, 
for  prevaricating  in  their  verdict.  At  Winchester  was  Henry  III. 
when  a  most  desperate  band  of  robbers  and  murderers  was  captured. 
The  King  sat  in  person  as  judge,  and  upwards  of  thirty-three  were 
executed.  Prince  Arthur,  son  of  Henry  VII.^  was  born  at  the  Castle; 
and  Henry  VIII.  entertained  here  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  When 
James  I.  ascended  the  throne,  he  bestowed  the  Castle,  in  fee  simple, 
upon  Sir  Benjamin  Tichborne,  of  Tichbome,  near  this  city,  and  his 
heirs  for  ever,  as  a  reward  for  his  service  in  proclaiming  him  in  this 
county.  In  the  great  Civil  War  it  was  strongly  garrisoned  for  the 
King,  and  commanded  by  Lord  Ogle;  but  at  length,  in  1645,  it  was 
taken,  after  a  week's  siege,  by  Oliver  Cromwell,  who  dismantled  and 
almost  destroyed  it.  What  remained  of  it  was  conferred  by  the  Par- 
liament upon  Sir  William  Waller,  who  was  one  of  their  partisans  and 
generals.  He  was  also  brother-in-law  to  Sir  Henry  Tichbome,  the 
real  owner  of  it,  whose  other  property,  as  well  as  this,  they  had  pre- 
viously confiscated  for  being  a  Royalist  and  a  Catholic.  Either  this 
Sir  William  or  his  son  of  the  same  name,  sold  the  chapel  to  certain 
feoffees,  for  the  purpose  of  a  public  hall  for  the  county  of  Hants,  and 
the  rest  of  the  Castle  to  the  corf  oration  of  Winchester.  Nothing, 
#  cc 


V 


/ 


^SG       King  Artlmrs  Round  Table,  at  Winchester, 

however,  can  be  more  clear,  than  that  the  whole  of  these  transactions 
must  have  been  considered  as  invalid  at  the  Restoration  ;  nevertheless, 
different  causes,  the  chief  of  which  was  his  professing  the  Catholic 
religion,  prevented  Sir  Henry  Tichbome,  who  by  this  time  had  suc- 
ceeded his  father  Sir  Richard,  from  recovering  this  part  of  his  pro- 
perty, though  he  continued  still  to  keep  up  his  claim  to  it. 

King  Charles  II.  undertook  to  build  a  modern  palace  within  the 
precincts  of  the  ancient  Castle ;  but  this  resolution  contributed  more 
than  even  the  violence  of  Cromwell  to  the  disappearing  of  the  ancient 
Castle.  Whatever  habitable  remains  existed  on  that  spot  or  neighbour- 
hood were  demolished,  to  afford  materials  for  the  new  building,  which, 
however,  was  never  completed,  but  the  structure,  of  considerable  extent, 
,    was  used  as  a  prison.  *^  /  /  *^  U-    "^ 

King  Arthur's  Round  Table,  at  Winchester. 

i  "  And  so  great  Arthur's  seat  ould  Winchester  prefers, 

Whose  ould  round  table  yet  she  vaunteth  to  be  hers." 

Drayton's  PolyolbioH, 

^  Conspicuously  upon  the  interior  eastern  wall  of  the  County  Hall 

at  "Winchester  hangs  the  celebrated  painted  Table  of  King  Arthur, 
the  true  history  of  which  has  long  been  a  disputed  question  with 
antiquaries.  Tradition  attributes  the  foundation  of  the  Castle  to  King 
Arthur  ;  and  the  legendary  bards  affirm  that  the  large  oaken  table  now 
shown  as  the  chief  curiosity  of  the  place  is  the  identical  board  round 
which  that  monarch  and  his  celebrated  knights  assembled  in  the  fortress 
he  had  founded ;  but  the  Exchequer  Domesday  shows  that  William  I. 
erected  the  Castle  at  Winchester,  in  the  situation  in  which  exists  its 
remains,  including  the  County  Hall,  in  which  the  Table  hangs. 

Mr.  E.  Smirke,  who  has  taken  great  pains  to  illustrate  its  history,  is 
not  aware  of  any  distinct  reference  to  the  Round  Table  before  the 
reign  of  King  Henry  VI.  or  Edward  IV.,  when  Hardyng,  tiie  poetic 
historian,  alludes  to  the  Table  of  Arthur  as  "  hanging  yet"  at  Win- 
chester ;  but  this  mention  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  earliest  manuscript 
copy  of  Hardyng.  The  Table  was  shown  to  the  Emperor  Charics  V. 
on  his  visit  to  Winchester,  in  1532  ;  and  in  the  foreign  accounts  of 
Henry  VIII.  we  find  "  an  entry  of  66/.  ids.  i  \d.  for  the  repair  of  the 
court  of  the  Castle  of  Winchester  and  the  round  Tabyll."  Again, 
the  Table  is  referred  to  by  a  Spanish  writer  who  was  present  at  the 

1   (b>,^i'-^:.C'ai<\J^^''      l^'^'^'    "^^^w 


0 


King  Arthur's  Round  Tadle,  at  Winchester.       397 

marriage  of  Philip  and  Mary,  as  the  Round  Table  constructed  by 
Merlin. 

The  Table,  as  we  now  see  it,  consists  of  a  circle,  divided  into 
twenty-five  green  and  white  compartments  radiating  from  the  centre, 
which  is  a  large  double  (Norman  ?)  rose.  In  the  middle  of  the  upper 
half  of  the  circle,  resting  upon  the  rose,  and  extending  to  the  double 
edge,  is  a  canopied  niche,  in  which  is  painted  a  royal  figure,  bearing 
the  orb  and  sword,  and  wearing  the  royal  crown.  Around  the  centre 
rose  is  a  circle  inscribed  with  black  letter,  except  where  it  is  broken 
by  the  base  of  the  niche  and  the  sitting  King.  There  are  also  names 
inscribed  in  six  of  the  white  compartments,  as  well  as  in  the  circle 
around  the  compartments,  of  which,  however,  this  circle  is  rather  a 
continuation,  in  colour  and  form  coiTCsponding  to  the  several  divisions, 
each  bearing  a  name.  To  what  period  these  names  are  to  be  referred, 
Mr.  Smirke  leaves  those  to  decide  whose  critical  acquaintanceship  with 
the  cycle  of  the  Round  Table  romance  will  enable  them  to  state  the 
sources  from  which  those  names  are  borrowed.  But  there  is  no  doubt 
that,  whatever  retouching  the  Table  may  have  undergone  (especially  in 
the  royal  figure,  which  Mr.  Smirke  believes  to  have  been  painted  within 
the  time  of  living  memory),  the  form  of  the  letters  and  general  decora- 
tions of  the  Table,  even  if  we  had  no  extrinsic  evidence,  would  indicate  a 
date  not  later  or  much  earlier  than  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  The 
Table  is  made  of  very  stout  oak  plank,  and  is  larger  than  the  roof  and 
the  floors  of  the  rooms  in  the  Eddystone  Lighthouse;  and  considerably 
larger  than  the  ground-plot  of  the  parish  church  of  St.  Lawrence,  in 
the  Isle  of  Wight. 

The  Arthurian  Romances,  as  the  traditional  histories  of  King  Arthur 
are  termed,  have  been  much  investigated  of  late  years.  The  origin  of 
all  the  Arthur  Romances  M.  Paris  sees  in  the  Breton  lays  sung  by 
harpers  in  France,  put  together  and  arranged  by  Geoffrey  of  Mon- 
mouth, and  seized  on  eagerly  by  the  French  romance-writers  of  the 
twelfth  century,  tired  of  the  fierceness  of  the  earlier  Chansons  de  Gestt 
of  the  Charlemagne  cycle,  and  longing  for  more  courteous,  amorous, 
chivalresque  heroes  and  their  dames.  To  Geoffrey,  M.  Paris  also 
assigns  the  "  Vita  Merlini,"  and  treats  him  most  rightly  as  the  imme- 
diate source  of  all  the  splendid  stream  of  Arthurian  fiction,  wherever 
its  hidden  springs  may  lie. 

The  theory  that  King  Arthur  was  a  Northern  ruler,  which  Mr. 
Glennie  has  illustrated  so  fully,  receives  further  confirmation  from  some 
independent  investigations  of  the  well  known  antiquary,  Mr.  Scott 
Surtees,  of  Spr<»tborough.    He  identifies  Blaise  (=  wolf  in  Welsh) 


$ss 


Wolvesey  Castle. 


and  his  inseparable  Merlin  with  Lupus  and  his  companion  St.  Ger- 
manus,  and  shows  a  most  curious  parallelism  between  the  prophet  and 
the  saint.  He  puts  Arthur  on  the  Gwent,  where  he  finds  the  remains 
of  very  large  earthworks ;  and  there  also  puts  the  Gwent-ceaster, 
which  has  been  supposed  to  be  the  Hampshire  Winchester. 

Mr.  Surtees  further  asks,  May  not  the  Round  Table  have  been  the 
chief  tribunal  or  superior  court  of  justice  ?  Now,  "  Pest  is  the  seat 
of  the  chief  judicial  tribunals  of  Hungary  ;  they  are  called  the  Kttnig- 
liche  Tafel  (Royal  table,  or  Court — Curia  Regia)  and  Septemviral 
Tafel ;  so  termed  because  originally  composed  of  seven  members,  but 
now  extended  to  the  Palatine,  four  prelates,  nine  magnates,  and  seven 
nobles.     It  is  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal  in  the  kingdom."* 


^iV'    fr< 


>y 


^7 


Wolvesey  Castle. 
At  a  short  distance  north-east  from  Winchester  College,  are  the  re- 
ains  of  the  episcopal  Palace  and  Castle  of  Wolvesey — so  called 
from  the  tribute  of  wolves'  heads  imposed  upon  the  Welsh  by  King 
Edgar,  and  ordered  to  be  paid  here.  Soon  after  the  Conquest,  it 
became  a  place  of  great  strength  and  importance  in  the  hands  of  Bishop\ 
De  Blois,  and  successfully  withstood  a  siege  by  the  most  able  generals  ) 
of  the  age,  Robert,  Earl  of  Gloucester,  and  David,  King  of  Scotland, 
who  were  forced  to  retire  from  it  in  confusion.  Henry  II.  dismantled 
it  on  ascending  the  throne ;  but  it  still  continued  a  "  castelle  or  pallace 
welltourid,"  until  the  final  destruction  of  Winchester  as  a  fortified  city 
by  Oliver  Cromwell,  who  reduced  the  Castle  to  a  heap  of  ruins  which  it 
continued  ever  since.  That  portion  which  remains  belonged  to  the  keep  or 
principal  part  of  the  Castle,  forming  an  imperfect  parallelogram,  which 
extended  about  250  feet  east  and  west,  and  160  feet  north  and  south. 
The  wings  of  the  building  were  fifty  feet  deep.  It  was  composed  of  cut 
flints  and  very  hard  mortar.  The  walls,  as  may  still  be  seen,  were  of 
an  amazing  thickness,  and  extended  to  the  City  Bridge  on  one  side, 
and  to  the  King's  Gate  on  the  other,  being  everywhere  fortified  with 
^towers  at  proper  distances.  The  junction  of  the  north  and  cast  wings, 
which  is  the  most  entire  morsel  in  the  whole  mass,  exhibits  a  speci- 
men of  ^  rich  and  clegajlLwjQrk,a8_can  be  produced  from  the  twefth 
century — the  pellet  ornament,  triangular  fret,  ciiiitals,  and  corbel  bust, 
L  admirably  executed,  still  remain.  In  tlic  n  iiti<  ol  the  north  wing  is  a 
^gateway,  with  a  pointed  arch,  leading  into  a  garden,  in  which  portions 
of  the  iron  hinges  may  yet  be  seen.   The  only  part  of  the  ancient  edifice 

•  Contributions  to  tlic  Athenctum. 


J 


Mancy  of  Merdon,  and  the  Cromwells.  389 

which  escaped  destruction  is  the  episcopal  chapel,  whichjs  modem,  I 
and  is  destitute  of  every  species  of  ornament.  i 

When  the  King's  palace  and  other  great  buildings  were  erecting  in 
"Winchester,  the  munificent  Bishop  Morley  began  raising  a  noble 
edifice  under  the  direction  of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  upon  which  he 
spent  2800/.  of  his  own  money  before  he  died.  Sir  Jonathan  Tre- 
lawney,  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  completed  the 
work,  and  the  episcopal  palace  was  the  most  perfect  and  elegant  modern 
building  in  the  city  ;  but  the  greater  part  of  it  was  taken  down. 

We  have  referred  to  the  tribute  of  wolves'  heads,  whence  Wolvesey 
was  named.  It  appears  that  in  the  year  951,  at  Winchester,  King 
Edgar  ordered  300  wolves'  heads  to  be  delivered  to  him  annually  at 
the  Castle  ;  and  commuted  the  punishment  of  offences  to  the  delivery 
of  a  certain  number  of  wolves'  tongues  in  proportion  to  the  offence. 
By  these  laws  the  extirpation  of  these  beasts  of  prey  was  effected. 


Manor  of  Merdon,  and  the  Cromwells. 

Between  three  and  four  miles  from  Winchester,  on  the  south-west 
road,  leading  to  Romsey,  and  in  the  extensive  parish  of  Hursley,  is  the 
ancient  Manor  of  Merdon,  which,  with  the  episcopal  Castle  built  on  it 
by  Bishop  De  Blois,  belonged  to  the  see  of  Winchester  till  the  reign 
of  Edward  VI.,  by  whom  it  was  given  to  Sir  Philip  Hobby,  knight, 
a  statesman  of  considerable  eminence.  It  was  strongly  fortified,  and 
surrounded  by  a  double  entrenchment :  parts  of  it  were  inhabited  so 
late  as  in  the  year  1601.  The  only  existing  remains  is  a  portion  of  the 
dungeon  or  keep,  on  the  north  side  of  the  inner  area.  The  ancient 
Castle  well,  which  in  depth  and  dimensions  was  not  less  than  that  in 
the  Castle  of  Carisbrook  (9  feet  wide  and  300  deep)  still  remains; 
but  when  the  site  of  the  Castle  and  entrenchments  was  thrown  within 
the  boundary  of  the  park  by  its  late  possessor,  the  well  was  arched 
over.  On  the  ramparts  many  fine  trees,  particularly  yews,  are  now 
growing.  From  Sir  Philip  Hobby,  who  built  the  old  manor  house,  the 
estate  passed  through  different  hands,  till  it  descended  to  Richard 
Cromwell,  son  of  the  Protector  Oliver,  in  virtue  of  his  marriage  with 
Dorothy,  eldest  daughter  of  Richard  Major,  Esq.  Here  Richard 
resided  during  the  life  of  his  father,  and  hither  he  retired  for  a  short 
period  previous  to  the  Restoration,  and  to  his  voluntary  exile  on  the 
Continent,  where  he  lived  in  poverty,  little  known  or  thought  of,  nearly 
twenty  years ;  his  son,  Oliver,  having  claimed  a  right  to  the  Manoi^ 


390  The  Hospital  of  St.  Cross. 

under  the  marriage  settlement  of  his  mother,  in  which  Richard  quietly 
acquiesced.  On  his  son's  death,  however,  he  put  in  his  claim  to  his 
former  possessions,  and  obtained  them  by  legal  process  from  his 
daughters,  who  considered  themselves  the  heirs  of  their  brother,  and 
refused  to  deliver  them  up.  During  the  trial,  Mr.  Cromwell  himsel.j 
then  in  his  eightieth  year,  was  obliged  to  appear  in  person.  On  his 
entering  the  court,  the  judge.  Lord  Chancellor  Cowper,  struck  with 
his  venerable  appearance,  and  probably  with  the  recollection  of  his 
former  greatness,  received  him  with  the  utmost  respect,  ordered  a  seat 
for  him,  and  insisted  that,  on  account  of  his  great  age,  he  should  sit 
covered ;  and  for  so  doing,  it  is  said,  he  was  afterwards  much  com- 
mended by  Queen  Anne.  A  memorable  anecdote  connected  with  this 
trial  must  not  be  omitted.  On  leaving  the  court,  Richard  rambled 
into  the  House  of  Lords.  When  the  House  broke  up,  a  stranger 
asked  him  if  he  had  ever  heard  or  seen  anything  like  it  before  ? 
"Never,"  he  replied,  "  since  I  sat  in  that  chair;"  pointing  at  the  same 
time  to  the  throne.  On  the  12th  of  July,  six  years  afterwards,  he  died; 
and  his  remains  were  interred  in  the  chancel  of  Hursley  church,  near 
those  of  his  wife  and  relations,  where  an  elegant  monument  presci-ves 
their  memory.  His  daughters  succeeded  to  the  estate,  but  kept  pos- 
session of  it  only  till  the  year  17 18,  when  they  sold  it  for  36,100/.  to 
William  Heathcote,  Esq.,  who  pulled  down  the  old  mansion  house, 
raising  in  its  place  Hursley  Lodge.  His  motive  for  doing  this  was  not 
that  mean  and  illiberal  one  which  has  been  commonly  assigned — viz., 
Vhat  "because  it  belonged  to  the  Cromwells,  he  would  not  let  one 
stone  remain  upon  another."  The  dilapidated  state  of  the  house,  and 
its  general  want  of  accommodation,  were  the  sole  causes  of  its  de- 
struction. In  one  of  the  walls  the  die  of  a  seal  was  found,  which, 
being  rusty,  was  supposed  to  be  a  Roman  weight,  and  bought  as  such 
from  the  workmen  who  discovered  it,  by  Sir  William  Heathcote.  When 
cleaned,  however,  it  proved  to  be  the  Seal  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
England,  and  was  supposed  by  Vertue,  the  eminent  engraver,  who  saw 
it  in  the  year  1760,  to  be  the  identical  Seal  which  Oliver  took  from  the 
Parliiment. 


The  Hospital  of  St.  Cross. 

At  a  short  distance  from  the  city  of  Winchester  stands  this  venerable 
and  curious  remnant  of  ancient  piety,  which,  by  some  means  not 
hiHi<rrto  explained,  escaped  the  ruin  that  fell  upon  most  establisliments 
of  this  nature   at  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation.    The  establish!- 


The  Hospital  of  Si.  Cross.  50  r 

ment  was  founded  by  Bishop  de  Blois,  King  Stephen's  brother,  between 
the  years  1132  and  w^Ct,  for  the  subsistence  of  thirteen  resident  poor 
^en,  in  every  necessary  of  life ;  and  for  affording  one  ample  meal  in 
each  day  to  100  other  indigent  out-boarders,  who  were  fed  in  the 
apartment  still  called  "  Hundred  Men's  Hall ;"  as  likewise  for  the  sup- 
port of  a  master,  steward,  four  chaplains,  thirteen  clerks,  and  seven 
choristers.  The  thirteen  poor  men  were  required  to  reside  in  the  house, 
and  were  allowed  each  of  them  daily  a  loaf  of  good  wheat  bread,  of 
31b.  40Z.  weight,  and  a  gallon  and  a  half  ot  good  small  beer.  They 
had  also  a  pottage  called  Monrel,  made  of  milk  and  Wastel-bread,  a 
dish  of  flesh  or  fish,  as  the  day  should  require,  with  a  pittance  for  their 
dinner ;  likewise  one  dish  for  their  supper.  This  charity  having  been, 
in  process  of  time,  perverted  from  its  original  institute,  was,  with  great 
pains,  restored  to  its  primitive  purposes  by  the  great  Wykeham:  inso- 
much that  his  successor  in  the  bishopric.  Cardinal  Beaufort,  being  de- 
sirous, according  to  the  custom  of  great  men  in  those  times,  of  leaving 
some  permanent  institution  of  piety  or  charity  behind  him,  chose  rather 
to  increase  this  establishment  by  a  fresh  foundation,  than  to  begin 
another  which  should  be  quite  a  new  one.  The  above-mentioned  royal 
prelate  began  with  rebuilding  a  great  part  of  the  hospital,  after  which 
he  endowed  it  for  the  support  of  thirty-five  additional  resident  members 
who,  from  decent  circumstances,  had  fallen  into  poverty,  of  two  more 
priests,  and  three  hospital  nuns  ;  calling  it  Domus  Eleemosynaria  Nob'tlls 
Paupertat'ts  (the  Alms  House  of  Noble  Poverty).  The  charity,  how- 
ever, is  no  longer  applied  to  the  relief  of  decayed  gentlemen.  The 
business  of  the  nuns  was  to  attend  the  sick  brethren. 

The  present  establishment,  however,  is  but  the  wreck  of  the  two 
ancient  institutions.  Instead  of  seventy  residents,  as  well  clergy  as 
laity,  who  were  here  entirely  supported,  besides  100  out-members,  who 
daily  received  their  meat  and  drink,  the  charity  consists  of  a  master, 
chaplain,  steward,  and  thirteen  resident  poor  brethren.  Certain  doles 
of  bread  are  distributed  to  the  neighbouring  poor  at  particular  times ; 
and  (what  is  perhaps  a  singular  remnant  of  the  charity  and  hospitality 
of  former  times)  a  piece  of  bread  and  a  horn  of  beer  are  given  to 
every  person  who  knocks  at  the  porter's  lodge  and  calls  for  this  relief.* 

In  the  first  court  stand  the  Hundred  Men's  Hall  (now  a  brewhouse) 
and  the  ancient  kitchens.  The  entrance  into  the  court  is  under  a  lofty 
Gothic  tower  of  finished  workmanship,  with  three  niches,  in  one 
of  which  Cardinal  Beaufort's  statue,  in  a  kneeling  attitude,  is  permitted 

♦  The  charter  of  foundation  states  "a  loaf  of  five  measures  and  drink  ia 
safficient  quantity." 


i9-2  TJte  Hospital  of  St.  Cross. 

to  remain  "•  lii-ewise  various  emblems  and  devices  of  his  family  and 
dign:t7.  Each  resident  brother  possesses  three  small  cells  and  a  garden 
for  his  own  use.  These  habitations  are  placed  in  a  line  on  the  vi^est 
side  of  the  court.  The  south  side  of  the  court  being  out  of  repair,  was 
pulled  down  some  years  ago.  The  north  side  consists  of  the  master's 
apartments,  the  eating-hall  (the  roof  of  which  is  of  Irish  oak  and  open 
to  the  tiles)  and  the  tower.  The  whole  of  the  north  side  was  rebuilt 
by  the  second  founder,  Cardinal  Beaufort.  The  ambulatory,  on  the 
east  side  of  the  court,  is  135  feet  in  length  :  above  it  are  the  ancient  in- 
firmary and  the  nuns'  rooms,  appropriated  to  three  hospital  sisters  who 
attended  the  sick.  At  the  east  end  of  these  apartments  is  a  window 
opening  to  the  church,  through  which  the  patients,  as  they  lay  in  their 
beds,  might  attend  to  the  divine  service  going  forward. 

In  the  tower  of  the  Hall  hangs  the  curfew  bell,  which  continues  to 
sound  the  time  of  extinguishing  fires  and  lights  at  eight  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  as  ordained  by  the  Conqueror,  eight  centuries  ago. 

The  noble  Saxon  Church  to  the  south,  which  is  built  in  the  cathedral 
form,  viz.,  that  of  a  cross,  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long,  one 
hundred  and  twenty  broad  in  the  transepts,  and  is  chiefly  the  work  of 
the  first  founder,  De  Blois.  The  different  parts  and  ornaments  of  this 
sacred  edifice  are  said  to  throw  much  light  on  the  progress  of  English 
architecture.  It  is  a  series  of  architectural  essays,  displaying,  according 
to  Dr.  Milner,  the  rude  and  ponderous  Saxon  pillar,  and  the  profuse 
and  richly  executed  ornaments  of  the  Normans,  with  the  first  re- 
gular step  towards  the  Gothic  style.  The  intersection  of  two 
circular  arches  he  considers  the  great  exemplar  "  which  produced 
Salisbury  steeple."  In  the  choir  are  sixteen  stalls,  over  which  are 
curious  sculptures  of  the  most  illustrious  Scripture  personages.  The 
most  curious  funeral  monuments  in  this  fabric  arc,  an  ancient  brass,  in 
memory  of  John  de  Campdcn,  the  fi"iend  of  Wykeliam,  and  master  of 
the  hospital ;  and  the  modern  mural  monument  to  Wolfren  Cornwall, 
Esq.,  formerly  speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons.  In  different  parts 
of  the  pavement  are  many  gla/ed  tiles,  with  hatched  and  other  orna- 
ments. Some  of  them  are  inscribed  with  the  monosyllables,  "  Have 
Mynde"  (Remember),  in  the  bla<-k  letter  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  Hospital  buildings  have  been  restored  of  late  years ;  Brother 
King  commencing  the  good  work  by  the  removal  of  the  plaster  from 
the  walls  of  the  north  and  south  chapels ;  the  restoralit)n  fund  being 
munificently  aided  by  a  donation  of  500/.  The  recent  colouring  of 
the  choir  anil  lantern  is  an  attempt  to  rcjiroduce  a  species  of  ornament 
with  which  the  church  was  formerly  enriched  throughout :  the  designi 
ve  by  Mr.  Butter  field 


393 


Winchester  Cross. — St.  Giles's  Hill  Fair. 

The  City  Cross,  at  Winchester,  a  light  and  elegant  design  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  but  the  detail  of  which  had  been  almost  entirely 
destroyed  by  injudicious  repairs,  has  been  restored  by  subscription, 
Mr.  Gilbert  Scott  being  the  architect  consulted.  The  Rev.  C.  Collier, 
in  searches  for  the  origin  of  this  Cross  among  the  muniments  in  custody 
of  the  Town  Clerk,  has  found,  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  F.  Baigent,  that 
in  1440  it  was  spoken  of  as  altam  crucem,  the  High  Cross.  One  record 
shows  that  in  Bishop  Fox's  time,  a  poor  Dutchman,  who  had  been 
brought  before  the  warden  for  reading  his  Dutch  Bible,  was  sentenced 
to  be  led  round  the  Cross,  with  the  Bible  in  his  hand,  three  times,  by 
Kingsmill,  the  city  crier,  and  thence  back  to  the  market,  where  the 
book  was  to  be  cast  into  a  fire.  From  this  it  would  appear  that  this 
was  never  a  market  cross,  but  one  of  the  high  crosses  where  the  laws 
were  declared,  proclamations  made,  judgments  delivered,  corpses  rested, 
sermons  preached,  and  sometimes  malefactors  executed. 

The  once  famed  St.  Giles's  Hill  Fair  or  Feast  has  been  abolished. 
This  great  fair  of  the  south  of  England  had  dwindled  to  one  refresh- 
ment booth,  a  score  of  rough  horses,  two  trucks  laden  with  apples, 
plums,  and  nuts,  without  even  a  penny  peepshow.  Yet  the  fair  formerly 
extended  over  sixteen  days,  during  which  time  not  only  in  Winchester 
were  the  shops  closed  and  all  business  suspended,  but  also  at  Southamp- 
ton and  all  other  places  within  twenty  miles  of  the  Hill.  The  charter 
for  the  fair  was  granted  by  W  illiam  the  Conqueror  to  his  kinsman, 
Walklyn,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  probably  for  the  support  of  his  newly 
founded  hospital,  dedicated  to  St.  Giles,  the  patron  of  cripples.  William 
Rufus  extended  the  grant  to  three,  Henry  I.  to  eight,  Stephen  to  four- 
teen, and  Henry  II.  to  sixteen  days.  Dues  were  levied  by  the  Bishop 
on  all  merchandize  brought  to  the  fair,  not  only  from  all  parts  of  the 
kingdom  but  beyond  the  seas.  It  was  not  an  assemblage  of  canvas 
booths  and  stalls,  but  of  streets  of  shops — probably  mud  walls,  thatched, 
distinguished  as  the  drapery,  the  pottery,  the  spicery,  the  stannary,  &c. 
— different  counties  having  their  different  stations.  The  tin  trade  was 
the  first  to  fall  off,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  Yet  within  the  present 
century  much  business  was  done  here  in  cheese,  and  it  was  thought  to 
be  the  best  horse  fair  in  the  county.  Hops,  wool,  and  leather  were  in 
abundance ;  and  it  long  flourished  as  a  pleasure  fair,  to  which  parties 
came  from  many  miles  to  eat  roast  pork  for  the  season,  which  by  the 
Hampshire  folk  was  thought  now  to  commence. 


0/  *' 


.-  a  ^ 

Southampton  Castle,  and  Ancient  Houses. 

Southampton  was  once  fortified  and  defended  by  double  ditches, 
battlements,  and  watch-towers.  Of  the  several  gates  the  only  one  re- 
maining is  the  Bar  Gate,  which  crosses  the  principal  street.  It  consists 
of  a  massive  semi-circular  Norman  arch,  beyond  which  has  lately  beea 
erected,  on  the  north  side,  a  high  and  pointed  arch.  The  ancient 
battlements  by  which  the  whole  is  crowned,  have  escaped  disfigure- 
ment ;  and  their  aspect  is  remarkably  majestic  and  venerable. 

Among  other  decorations  on  the  north  front  of  the  Gate  are  two 
figures,  said  by  tradition  to  represent  the  famous  hero  of  romance, 
Sir  Bevis  of  Hampton,  and  the  giant  Ascapard,  whom  he  slew  in 
single  combat.  Heylin  claims  Bevis  as  a  real  Earl  of  Southampton. 
The  reader  may  recollect  an  allusion  to  Ascapard,  or  Ascabart,  as  he  is 
called,  in  the  first  canto  of  Scott's  Lady  of  the  Lake,  which  the  author 
has  illustrated  by  a  quotation  from  an  ancient  manuscript  copy  of  the 
Romance  of  Sir  Bevis.    The  following  is  the  modernized  version : — 

"  This  giant  was  mighty  and  strong, 
And  full  thirty  feet  was  long, 
He  was  bristled  like  a  sow  ; 
A  foot  he  had  between  each  brow ; 
His  lips  were  great  and  hung  aside  ; 
His  eyes  were  hollow,  his  mouth  was  wide  ; 
Lothly  he  was  to  look  on  than. 
And  liker  a  devil  than  a  man  : 
His  staff  was  a  young  oak, — 
Hard  and  heavy  was  his  stroke." 

Of  Sir  Bevis  there  are  other  memorials  at  Southampton  besides  the 
figure  on  the  Bar  Gate,  especially  an  artificial  elevation  called  Bevis 
Mount,  which  seems  anciently  to  have  lx?en  fortified. 

The  Castle  stood  on  the  western  side  of  the  town.  Of  the  period 
of  its  erection  we  have  no  certain  information.  It  has  been  referred  to 
Saxon  times.  Others  regard  it  as  one  of  the  fortresses  erected  by  the 
Conqueror,  though  it  is  not  one  of  the  forty-nine  Castles  mentioned  in 
Domesday  Book.  It  might  have  been  one  of  the  1119  fortresses  built 
in  the  stormy  period  of  King  Stephen's  reign.  It  was  in  existence  in 
this  Sovereign's  time,  as  Carte  states  (A.n.  ii,r',3)  that,  from  a  com- 
promise between  King  Stephen  and  Prince  Henry,  the  Bishop  of  Win- 
chester was  to  give  security  for  the  delivery  of  the  Castle  of  South- 
ampton to  Prince  Henry  on  the  death  of  Stephen  ;  the  Bishops  of  that 
city  being   llicn  Earls  of  Soutliampton,    and  in  that  capacity  pro« 


Southampton  Castle,  and  Ancient  Houses.        39S 

oably  governors  of  the  Castle.  Its  fortifications  may  accord  with 
the  Norman  period,  though  the  Keep  may  have  been  erected  on 
an  anterior  Saxon  fortification.  This  may  have  been  one  of  the  many 
forts  which  King  Alfred  built  in  the  southern  counties  to  repress  the 
predatory  incursions  of  the  Danes  ;  and  highly  probable  it  is  that  the 
great  ravages  by  that  people  to  which  the  ancient  town  of  Southampton, 
situated  near  the  river,  in  the  low  grounds  of  St.  Mary's  parish,  was 
exposed,  must  have  early  led  the  inhabitants  to  regard  the  higher 
elevation  on  which  the  keep  and  Castle  are  located  as  a  more  suitable 
place  of  defence  against  such  attacks ;  and  to  have  looked  especially  to 
the  site  of  the  Keep,  as  a  resort  for  safety,  long  before  the  date  of  the 
Conquest.  It  has  been  conjectured  by  Sir  H.  Englefield  that  the 
Castle  might  have  been  one  of  those  fortresses  dismantled  in  the  general 
destruction  of  such  buildings  at  the  close  of  Stephen's  reign.  Speed 
states  that  the  first  Castle  was  pulled  down  in  Henry  III.'s  time.  In 
the  year  1 246  Southampton  was  fined  two  hundred  and  seventy  marks 
for  the  withholding  of  many  duties  which  it  owed  to  the  Castle,  and 
for  selling  timber,  lead,  and  store-materials  of  the  fortress.  In  Ed- 
ward III.'s  reign,  in  1338,  the  town  was  fiercely  attacked,  plundered, 
and  partly  reduced  to  ashes  by  the  French.  About  the  first  year  of 
the  reign  of  Richard  II.  (1377),  the  Castle  was  almost  entirely  rebuilt. 
In  1399  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  walls  falling  heavily  on  the 
inhabitants,  the  Crown  granted  200/.  during  pleasure,  out  of  the  wood- 
subsidy,  towards  repairing  the  fortifications ;  but  in  the  following  year 
(according  to  the  Southampton  Corporation  MS.  journal),  changing 
the  grant,  the  King  released  one  hundred  and  forty  marks  of  the  fee- 
farm  rents  of  the  town  towards  repairs. 

The  Keep,  described  by  Leland  as  the  glory  of  the  Castle,  and  "both  - 
large  and  fair  and  very  strong,"  retained  its  existence  as  a  round  tower 
till  the  middle  of  the  last  century.     It  then  became  the  property  of      V^ 
Lord  Stafford,  who  pulled  down  the  tower  of  the  Keep  to  construct 
out  of  its  materials  a  banqueting-room,  which  being  sold  to   Lord  . 
Wycombe,  afterwards  Marquis  of  Lansdowne,  he  erected  on  its  site, 
in  1805,  a  modern  castellated  building,  demolished  in  1822.     The  hill 
on  which  the  Castle  stood  remains,  and  has  a  summer-house  on  it, 
built  with  the  materials  of  the  old  fortress.     In  the  excavations  a  Saxon 
penny  was  found,  in  good  condition ;  it  is  exceedingly  rare,  if  not 
unique,  and  points  to  the  antiquity  of  the  Keep,  no  other  Saxon  coin 
having  been  known  to  be  found  within  the  precincts  of  the  other  forti- 
fications of  the  town  :  on  the  obverse  is  "  OfFa  Rex." 

The»e  are  some  interesting  ancient  houses  in  Southampton.    In  Blue 


39^  King  Canute. — Abbey  of  St.  Bennet. 

Anchor  Lane  is  the  garden  belonging  to  an  edifice  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury, in  which  Henry  VIII.  is  traditionally  said  to  have  resided  for  a 
week  with  his  Queen  Anne  Boleyn.  And  lower  down  in  the  Lane  is 
the  dilapidated  marine  palace  of  King  John. 

The  two  ancient  houses  which  together  constituted  King  John's 
Palace,  were  considered  by  Mr.  Hudson  Turner  as  the  oldest  house  in 
England,  dating  its  erection  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  twelfth  century. 
The  Palace  has  on  its  west  front  a  succession  of  strong  arches,  some 
built  over  its  windows,  thought  to  have  been  added  for  the  protection 
of  the  Palace  after  the  French  invasion  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  by 
Richard  II.,  when  he  rebuilt  or  renovated  the  Castle.  Part  of  the 
Palace  is  now  turned  into  a  stable. 

When  the  English  monarchs  ceased  to  make  a  frequent  residence  of 
Winchester  (which  was  the  birthplace  and  a  favoured  city  of  Henry  III.), 
the  above  Houses,  which  were  a  sort  of  marine  adjunct  or  resort,  lost 
part  of  their  especial  convenience.  They  had  also  from  their  contiguity 
to  the  New  Forest,  furnished  facilities  for  the  monarchs'  sports,  as  the 
adjacent  King  John's  Pond,  and  the  Hounds'  Well,  for  the  watering  of 
their  horses  and  the  hounds,  testify. 


King  Canute. — Abbey  of  St.  Bennet. 

Southampton  was  the  scene  of  the  beautiful  little  incident  of  the  re- 
buke which  Canute  gave  to  the  flattery  of  his  courtiers,  when  the  throne 
was  to  be  placed  on  the  sand  of  the  sea-shore ;  and,  addressing  the 
ocean  ;  he  said,  "Thou  art  my  Kingdom,  and  the  dry  land  is  also 
mine — rise  not — obey  my  commands."  Canute,  perhaps,  called  the 
sea  his  realm,  in  allusion  to  the  maritime  dominion  often  ascribed  to 
the  Crown  of  England.  But  the  waves  ascended  with  the  swelling 
tide  and  rolled  on  to  his  feet ;  and  then  Canute  turned  to  his  warriors 
and  courtiers,  and  called  upon  them  to  confess  how  weak  was  the 
might  of  an  earthly  King  compared  with  that  Power  by  whom  the 
elements  are  ruled.  After  this  declaration  he  took  off  his  crown  ;  and 
depositing  the  symbol  of  royalty  in  the  Cathedral  of  Winchester,  he 
never  again  adorned  himself  with  the  diadem.  This  story,  which  it 
would  l)e  an  unreasonable  scepticism  to  doubt,  found  as  it  is  in  some  of 
our  oldest  and  best  chroniclers,  makes  Canute's  name  and  his  virtue 
more  familiar  to  the  English  nation  than  liis  acts  of  piety  in  his  journey 
to  Rome,  and  in  the  foundation  of  the  two  monasteries  of  St.  Bennet 
of  Hulmc  and  St.  Edmund's  Bury. 


Netley  Abbey.  397 

The  Abbey  of  Saint  Bennet  at  Hulme,  in  Norfolk,  was  built  on  a 
site  granted  by  am  East  Anglian  chieftain,  about  a.d.  800,  to  a  Society 
of  Religious  Eremites,  who  erected  a  chapel  and  other  structures  here. 
These  were  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  a.d.  870,  but  were  rebuilt  about 
a  century  after ;  and  King  Canute  founded  and  endowed  before  a.d. 
1020,  a  Benedictine  Monastery  here.  It  is  the  only  Abbey  in  England 
which  can  still  boast  of  an  Abbot,  and  a  mitred  Abbot — the  Bishop 
of  Norwich  taking  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords  as  titular  Abbot 
of  Hulme,  the  only  Abbey  which  was  left  undissolved  at  the  Reforma- 
tion. The  Abbey  had  the  solidity  of  a  Norman  stronghold,  and 
stoutly  resisted  an  attack  in  the  reign  of  William  the  Conqueror,  when 
the  siege  was  brought  to  an  abrupt  conclusion  by  the  perfidy  of  a 
monk,  who  yielded  up  the  place  on  condition  of  succeeding  to  the 
Abbacy :  he  gained  his  point,  but  was  executed  as  a  traitor.  In  1469 
the  Abbey  was  visited  by  King  Edward  IV.  All  that  now  remains 
of  this  once  magnificent  edifice  is  the  gateway,  upon  the  walls  of  which 
has  been  erected  a  draining-mill. 


Netley  Abbey. 

Netley  Abbey,  of  picturesque  celebrity,  is  a  short  distance  from  the 
bank  of  Southampton  Water,  about  three  miles  east  of  the  town 
of  Southampton.  The  proper  name  of  the  place  appears  to  be  Letteley, 
which  has  been  Latinized  into  de  Lata  Loco  (pleasant  place),  if  it  be  not 
as  most  commonly  supposed,  a  corruption  of  this  Latin  designation. 
The  founder  of  Netley  Abbey  is  stated  by  Leland  to  have  been  Peter 
Roche,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  who  died  in  1238.  The  monks  of  Netley 
belonged  to  the  severe  order  of  the  Cistercians,  and  were  originally 
brought  from  the  neighbouring  house  of  Beaulieu.  Hardly  anything 
has  been  collected  with  regard  to  the  establishment  for  the  first  300 
years  after  its  foundation,  except  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  Abbots.  At 
the  Dissolution  it  consisted  of  an  Abbot  and  twelve  monks,  and  its  net 
revenue  was  returned  at  only  about  100/.  It  appears,  indeed,  to  have 
been  always  a  humble  and  obscure  establishment.  Nor  did  the  riches  of 
the  good  monks  consist  in  their  library.  Leland  found  them  possessed  ot 
only  one  book,  which  was  a  copy  of  Cicero's  Treatise  on  Rhetoric.  In 
153-;  the  place  was  granted  by  the  King  to  Sir  William  Paulet,  after- 
wards the  celebrated  Marquis  of  Winchester.  It  has  since  been  succes- 
sively in  the  possession  of  various  other  families. 

Netley  Abbey  is  now  a  ruin,  nothing  remaining  except  part  of  the 


39^  Neihy  Abbey. 

bare  walls.  It  stands  on  the  declivity  of  a  gentle  elevation,  which  risei 
from  the  bank  of  the  Southampton  Water.  The  walk  to  it  from 
Southampton  is  one  of  enchanting  beauty,  the  surrounding  landscape 
being  rich  in  all  the  charms  of  water  and  woodland  scenery.  The 
Abbey  itself  is  so  embosomed  among  foliage, — partly  that  of  the  oaks 
and  other  trees  which  rise  in  thick  clumps  around  it,  and  some  of  which 
springing  up  from  the  midst  of  the  roofless  walls,  spread  their  waving 
branches  over  them,  and  partly  that  of  the  luxuriant  ivy  which  clothes 
a  great  part  of  the  grey  stone  in  green, — that  scarcely  a  fragment  of  it 
is  visible  till  the  visitor  has  reached  close  beside  it.  The  site  of  the  ruin, 
however,  is  one  of  considerable  extent.  Originally  the  buildings  seem 
to  have  formed  a  quadrangular  court  or  square ;  but  scarcely  anything 
more  is  now  to  be  seen,  except  the  remains  of  the  church  or  chapel 
which  occupied  one  of  the  sides.  It  appears  to  have  been  about  200 
teet  in  length  by  sixty  in  breadth,  and  to  have  been  crossed  at  the  centre 
by  a  transept  of  1 20  feet  long.  The  walls  can  still  be  distinctly  traced 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  extent,  except  in  the  northern  portion  of 
the  transept.  The  roof,  however,  as  we  have  said,  no  longer  exists.  Its 
fragments,  many  of  them  sculptured  with  armorial  bearings  and  other 
devices,  lie  scattered  in  heaps  over  the  floor.  Many  broken  columns 
still  remain ;  and  there  are  also  windows  in  different  portions  of  the 
wall,  the  ornamental  parts  of  which  are  more  or  less  defaced,  but 
which  still  retain  enough  of  their  original  character  to  show  that  the 
building  must  have  been  one  of  no  common  architectural  beauty.  The 
east  end  is  the  most  entire,  and  the  great  window  here  is  of  elegant 
proportions  and  elaborately  finished.  Besides  the  church,  various  other 
portions  of  the  Abbey,  such  as  the  kitchen  (the  Abbot's  Kitchen),  the 
refectory,  &c.,  are  conjecturally  pointed  out  to  strangers.  The  whole 
place  was  surrounded  by  a  moat,  of  which  traces  are  still  discernible ; 
and  two  large  ponds  remain  at  a  short  distance  from  the  buildings, 
which  no  doubt  used  to  supply  fish  to  the  pious  inmates.  Tiie  retired 
and  undisturbed  waters  now  present  an  aspect  of  solitude  which  is 
extremely  beautiful,  overhung  as  they  are  by  trees  and  iniderwood. 
About  200  feet  distance  from  the  west  end  of  tlie  church,  and  nearer 
the  water,  is  a  small  building  callal  Nctlcy  Castle  or  Fort,  which  was 
erected  by  Henry  VIII. 

The  chief  attraction  of  Netlcy  Abbey  must  be  understood  to 
consist,  not  so  much  in  any  architectural  magnificence  of  which  it  has 
to  boast,  as  in  the  singular  loveliness  of  the  spot,  and  in  the  feelings  in- 
spired by  the  overthrown  and  desolate  state  of  this  seat  of  ancient  piety. 
No  mind  having  any  imagination,  or  feeling  for  the  picturesque  and  tlie 


Beaulicu  Abbey.  399 

poetical,  but  must  deeply  feel  the  effect  of  its  lonely  and  mournful  yet 
exquisitely  beautiful  seclusion.  It  has  accordingly  been  the  theme  of 
many  verses,  among  which  an  elegy,  written  by  Mr.  George  Keate, 
the  author  of  the  Account  of  the  Pelew  Islands  and  Prince  Le  Boo, 
has  been  much  admired.  The  Rev.  Canon  Bowles  has  also  invoked 
the  ruin  in  these  lines  of  considerable  tenderness : — 

*'  Fallen  pile !  I  ask  not  what  has  been  thy  fate  ; 
But  when  the  weak  winds,  wafted  from  the  main, 
Through  each  lone  arch,  like  spirits  that  complain. 
Come  hollow  to  my  ear,  I  meditate 
On  this  world's  passing  pageant,  and  the  lot 
Of  those  who  once  might  proudly,  in  their  prime, 
Have  stood  with  giant  port ;  till,  bowed  by  time 
Or  injury,  their  ancient  boast  forgot, 
They  might  have  sunk  like  thee  ;  though  thus  forlorn, 
They  lift  their  heads,  with  venerable  hairs 
Besprent,  majestic  yet,  and  as  in  scorn 
Of  mortal  vanities  and  short-lived  cares  ; 
E'en  so  dost  thou,  lifting  thy  forehead  grey. 
Smile  at  the  tempest  and  time's  sweeping  sway." 

Thtre  is  a  strange  story  told  of  the  roof  of  Netley  Abbey:  it  re- 
mained till  1704,  when  Sir  Bartlet  Lucy,  who  had  been  for  some  time 
in  possession,  sold  the  materials  of  the  chapel  to  a  carpenter,  of  whose 
death  Browne  Willis,  and  others  after  him,  have  left  us  the  following 
account.  We  read,  in  the  History  of  Mitred  Abbeys,  that  while  the 
carpenter  above  mentioned  was  treating  with  Sir  Bartlet  about  the 
Abbey  business,  he  was  much  terrified  in  his  sleep,  and  frequently 
haunted  by  the  phantom  of  a  monk,  who  foretold  some  great  evil 
would  certainly  happen  if  he  proceeded.  And  besides,  one  night  he 
dreamed  that  a  large  stone,  falling  from  one  of  the  windows,  killed  him. 
A  friend  to  whom  he  related  all  this,  advised  him  to  drop  the  under- 
taking ;  but  others  advising  him  to  go  on,  he  struck  the  bargain,  which 
he  believed  to  be  a  good  one.  However,  it  proved  fatal  to  him,  for  as 
he  was  endeavouring  to  take  some  stones  out  of  the  bottom  of  the 
west  wall,  not  a  single  stone  only,  but  the  whole  of  the  window  fell 
down  upon  him,  and  killed  him  on  the  spot.  This,  like  most  tales  of 
a  similar  nature,  is  said  to  be  supported  by  the  attestation  of  a  number 
of  credible  witnesses. 


Beaulieu  Abbey. 

At  about  five  miles  from  the  village  of  Hythe,  amidst  noble  beech- 
woods,  is  the  Abbey  of  Beaulieu,  of  the  Cistercian  order,  founded  a.d. 
1204,  by  King  John.    The  stone  wall  which  surrounded  the  precinct j 


/|0o  I^Ji^  Castle  of  Odihatn, 

of  the  Abbey  is,  in  several  places,  nearly  entire,  and  is  finely  mantled 
with  ivy.  The  Abbot's  apartments,  converted  after  the  Dissolution 
into  a  family  seat,  having  a  well-proportioned  vaulted  hall;  a  long 
building  (supposed  from  the  extent  and  height  of  the  apartments  to 
have  been  the  dormitory),  the  ancient  kitchen,  and  the  refectory,  are 
stil)  standing.  There  are  some  relics  of  the  cloisters;  a  gateway 
leading  to  the  area  enclosed  by  them  remains ;  the  church  is  entirely 
destroyed.  The  refectory,  a  plain  stone  building,  with  strong  buttresses, 
and  a  curiously  raftered  oak  roof,  forms  the  parish  church  of  the  vil- 
lage of  Beaulieu.  This  Abbey  possessed  the  privilege  of  Sanctuary, 
and  afforded  shelter  to  Margaret  of  Anjou  and  her  son  Prince  Edward, 
on  their  landing  in  England  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Barnet ;  and 
to  Perkin  Warbeck,  after  the  failure  of  his  attempts  in  the  West  of 
England.  Excavations  and  restorations  have  been  carried  on  for  several 
years  past  at  Beaulieu  Abbey,  under  the  direction  of  the  Duke  of 
Buccleuch,  the  possessor  of  the  property.  All  the  foundations  of  the 
Abbey  Church,  upwards  of  330  feet  in  length,  have  been  clearly  traced; 
and  the  position  of  every  buttress  and  pillar  discovered.  Many  lead 
coffins  have  been  found  on  the  site  of  the  church ;  and  during  excava- 
tions made  to  ascertain  whether  there  had  been  a  crypt  under  the 
choir,  the  remains  of  a  female  wrapped  in  lead  were  discovered  in  front  of 
the  high  altar.  The  body  was  no  doubt  that  of  Isabella,  daughter  of 
the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  and  wife  of  Richard,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  better 
known  as  King  of  the  Romans,  and  brother  of  King  Henry  III.  She 
was  buried  at  Beaulieu,  with  great  pomp,  in  1239  ;  and  an  incised  stone, 
with  the  effigy  of  a  female  much  defaced,  has  lately  been  discovered, 
bearing  this  inscription:— J  ACET:  Ysabella  :  prima:  v.  .  . 
(uxor).    On  the  reverse  of  the  stone  may  be  faintly  traced — Ricardi  : 

ROMANORVM, 

At  Beaulieu,  also,  was  an  Hospital  of  Knights  Templars,  which  was 
founded  before  the  establishment  of  the  Abbey.  The  ruins  of  the 
Hospital,  which  are  now  converted  into  farm  buildings,  are  sometimes 
mistaken  for  those  of  the  Abbey. 


The  Castle  of  Odiham. 

Near  Odiham,  in  Hampshire,  are  the  remains  of  a  Castle  wliich,  in 
the  Civil  Wars  at  tlic  close  of  King  John's  reign,  was  bravely  but  un- 
successfully defended  by  a  gaiTison  of  thirteen  against  the  Dauphin, 
Louis  of  France. 


TJie  Castle  of  Odiham.  401 

In  this  Castle  David  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland,  was  confined  for  seven 
years,  after  his  capture  at  Neville's  Cross.  Henry  III.  gave  the  Castle 
to  the  Countess  Eleanora,  wife  of  Simon  de  Montfort,  Earl  of  Leicester, 
and  here  she  spent  much  of  her  time.  From  the  Household  Roll  of 
the  Countess  for  the  year  1265,  we  gain  much  curious  information 
concerning  the  castle-life  of  these  times.  This  valuable  record  was 
found  in  an  obscure  French  monastery,  where  it  had  lain  unnoticed  for 
centuries.  It  is  written  on  a  roll  of  parchment  about  twenty  feet  in 
length  and  one  foot  in  width,  and  is  still  in  excellent  preservation.  It 
has  been  purchased  by  the  trustees  of  the  British  Museum,  and  printed 
for  the  Bannatyne  Club. 

The  entries  on  this  roll  commence  on  the  19th  February,  1265.  At 
this  time  the  Countess  was  at  Wallingford  Castle  with  her  son  Richard 
di  Montfort,  and  a  large  retinue,  for  the  horses  of  the  party  were  sixty- 
six  in  number.  On  the  21st  she  removed  to  Reading,  and  on  the  follow- 
ing day  proceeded  to  the  Castle  of  Odiham.  On  the  17th  of  March  she 
was  joined  by  her  son  Henry,  who  brought  with  him  his  two  cousins, 
Prince  Edward  and  the  son  of  the  King  of  the  Romans,  not,  however, 
without  a  strong  guard,  for  the  troop  consisted  altogether  of  120  horse. 
The  day  but  one  following,  the  establishment  at  Odiham  was  still  fur- 
ther increased  by  the  arrival  of  Earl  Simon,  with  161  horsemen  in  his 
train.    Simon  remained  but  a  fortnight  with  his  wife. 

During  her  residence  at  Odiham,  the  Countess  received  several 
visitors,  principally  of  the  ecclesiastical  order.  Ralph,  the  Abbot  of 
Waverley  Abbey,  came  twice  to  see  his  illustrious  patroness.  The 
Prioress  of  Witney,  and  some  of  the  nuns  of  that  convent,  visited 
her.  These  industrious  ladies  were  employed  by  Eleanora,  who  her- 
self had  little  leisure  for  the  exercises  of  needle-craft,  in  working  a  cope 
for  her  chaplain,  for  the  approaching  feast  of  Easter.  The  Prioress  of 
Amesbury,  Master  Nicolas,  a  physician,  Robert  de  Brus,  accompanied 
by  Sir  Thomas  Astley,  a  Warwickshire  knight,  the  Countess  of  Oxford, 
the  Countess  of  Albemarle,  the  Countess  of  Gloucester,  and  young 
Almaric  de  Montfort,  who  came  attended  with  thirteen  horsemen, 
were  all  in  turn  guests  at  Odiham  Castle. 

It  is  curious  to  note  the  provision  made  by  our  ancestors  centuries 
past  for  the  supply  of  their  tables.  On  the  day  of  Earl  Simon's  depar- 
ture, the  expenditure  of  the  Castle  was  as  follows : — For  the  Countess 
and  her  attendants,  the  family  of  Lord  A.  de  Montfort,  the  whole 
family  of  the  Earl  Simon  being  present — for  the  purchase  of  bread, 
10//.  Item,  one  quarter  that  was  paid  beforehand,  and  note  that  to-day, 
after  the  Earl  had  left,  six  bushels  were  expended  for  the  dogs  of  the 


if.02  The  Castle  of  Odiliani, 

Lords  Henry  and  Guy  de  Montfort,  and  Henry  of  Germany.  Wine, 
7  quarts,  besides  33  quarts,  which  the  Earl  took  with  liim.  Beer,  for 
140  gallons,  10  of  which  came  from  Basingstoke,  and  60  were  expended 
the  preceding  Wednesday,  for  the  Earl  before  his  departure,  8j.  c^d. ; 
and  for  the  10  gallons,  7^^.  Kitchen:  icoo  herrings  from  the  store, 
17J. ;  oysters,  2s.  3^. ;  lampreys,  7J.  \d.  This,  however,  was  in  Lent, 
when  fish  was  the  chief  article  of  the  dinner-table,  since  flesh  was  not 
permitted.  The  grand  staple  article  was  salt  hen'ings,  hundreds  of 
which  Avere  daily  consumed  at  the  table  of  the  Countess.  On  those 
days  when  meat  was  allowed,  as  Monday  in  Easter  week,  the  entry  '3 
as  follows :  "  For  the  Countess  and  family,  the  Countess  of  the  Isle  re- 
tiring after  dinner,  bread,  f  of  ground  corn.  Bolted  flour,  2s.  i\d. 
For  the  expenses  of  the  poor,  through  all  Lent,  without  the  Castle, 
besides  those  fed  within,  18  quarters ;  wine,  8  quarts,  one  sent  with  the 
man  of  the  Countess  (Albemarle) ;  olives,  \\d.  Brewery,  reckoned 
before.  Kitchen :  one  ox  and  a  half  from  the  store  of  the  Castle : 
4  swine;  4  sheep;  calves,  2\d.\  kids,  7^.  Stable:  hay  for  35  horsesj 
oats,  I  quarter;  i^  bushel  from  the  store.  Smithy,  3J.  Q\d.  Lights; 
for  the  white  candles,  e^d. ;  lights  from  Wallingford,  2od.  Sum, 
9J.  \\d" 

Tuesday,  7th  April: — "  For  the  Countess  and  her  attendants, 
Reginald  Poliot  and  his  wife — bread,  2  quarters  2  bushels;  wine,  3 
quarts;  beer,  for  20  gallons,  15^.  Kitchen:  half  an  ox ;  3  swine; 
3  sheep  from  the  stores ;  for  sheep  bought,  3J.  a^d. ;  calves,  14^. ;  kids 
from  the  manor,  8^.  Stable :  hay  for  35  horses ;  oats,  2  quarters, 
14  bushel  ground.  For  spicery:  3  pounds  of  pepper,  ginger,  cinnamon, 
and  galingale;  and  i  ounce  of  cloves,  13  pounds  of  rice;  saffron, 
38  pounds ;  3  pails  of  figs,  and  i  of  raisins  for  Lent.     Sum,  5J.  f)d" 

The  term  bread  {panis)  is  evidently  used  to  denote  flour  intended  for 
bread,  as  it  is  measured  by  the  quarter  and  bushel  from  the  stores  of 
the  Castle.  The  bread  generally  used  in  the  family  appears  to  have 
been  made  of  the  grain  called  mystelton,  a  term  in  use  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  applied  to  a  mixture  of  wheat  and 
rye.  The  quantities  of  wine  drunk  are  but  small,  and  it  was  probably 
only  served  at  the  table  of  the  Countess  ;  while  the  supplies  of  beer  are 
enormous.  On  the  i8th  of  April,  five  quarters  of  barley  and  four  of  oats 
were  brewed.  On  the  28th,  188  gallons  of  beer  were  bought;  and  on 
the  29th,  they  brewed  again  seven  tiwartcrs  of  barley  and  two  of  oats. 
The  cost  of  beer,  when  purchased,  was  a  halfpenny  or  three- farthings 
a  gallon  ;  but  the  Countess  generally  adopted  the  more  economical  plair 
of  brewing  at  home. 


The  Siege  of  Basing  House.  403 

To  the  poor,  the  Countess  was  very  bountiful.  Besides  sundry 
Items  mentioned  for  their  food  without  the  Castle,  on  the  14th  of  April 
she  fed  800  paupers,  who  consumed,  amongst  other  things,  three 
quarters  of  bread  and  one  tun  of  cider ;  and  again,  a  few  days  after, 
three-fourths  of  an  ox,  for  the  hall  and  the  poor  people,  are  noted ; 
and  on  the  4th  of  May,  bread  and  beer  for  the  poor  during  eight  days. 

The  usual  allowance  of  butcher's-meat  in  the  family  was  occasionally 
varied  with  fowls,  geese,  capons,  &c.  Of  vegetables,  little  mention  is 
made,  and  of  fruits  still  less — apples  and  pears  are  the  only  fruit 
named,  300  of  the  latter  having  been  bought  at  Canterbury  at  a  cost 
of  10^.  The  quantity  of  spices  used  was  very  considerable,  but  they 
were  employed  to  give  flavour  to  the  beer,  which  was  brewed  without 
hops. 

Comparatively  few  entries  relate  to  articles  of  clothing.  The  woollen 
cloth,  which  was  the  general  material  of  attire,  both  male  and  female, 
eeems  to  have  contented  the  Countess.  These  cloths  were  first  made 
.  with  the  nap  very  long,  and,  when  it  was  somewhat  worn,  it  was  sent 
V/  to  be  shorn,  which  process  was  repeated  as  often  as  the  cloth  would 
bear  it.  Accordingly,  we  find  the  Countess  sending  her  tailor  to  Lon- 
don, to  get  her  clothes  re-shorn,  at  a  cost  of  2  J.  A  hood  of  black  satin 
was  purchased  for  her,  price  13J.,  and  also  a  scarlet  robe  against  Whit- 
suntide. For  the  festival  of  the  Nativity  of  the  Virgin,  the  purchases 
made  for  her  were  thirty-four  ells  of  russet  for  a  rob*,  to  be  adorned 
with  a  trimming  of  white  lamb's-wool.  Beneath  the  upper  robe  she 
wore,  occasionally  at  least,  garments  of  leather  or  sheep's-skin ;  her 
f  washing-bills  from  January  to  June  amounted  to  no  more  than  \yl. 

THeonTjT  piece  of  plate  mentioned  in  the  roll  is  a  gilded  plate,  bought 
at  London  for  2j.  \od.,  for  the  use  of  the  Countess's  daughter  Eleanom. 
Spoons  are  alluded  to.  When  this  young  lady  was  ill,  a  horse  was 
despatched  to  Reading  to  bring  over  a  barber  (surgeon)  to  bleed  her. 

The  names  of  the  servants  which  occur  in  the  roll  are  almost  entirely 
^^  Saxon:  Hande  and  Jacke  of  the  bakehouse;  Hicke,  the  tailor;  Jacke, 
the  keeper  of  Eleanora's  han-iers;  Dobbe,  the  shepherd;  Dignon, 
vtooitnerty,  and  Truebodi,  employed  as  letter-carriers ;  all  affording  a 
strong  indication  of  the  degradation  to  which  the  Saxon  inhabitants  of 
England  were  at  that  time  reduced. 


Tn^ 


The  Siege  of  Basing  House. 

The  small  village  of  Old  Basing,  about  a  mile  east  of  BasingstOKe, 
has  been  distinguished  from  an  early  period  of  our  history,  as  the  scene 


404  The  Siege  of  Basing  House. 

of  a  severe  battle  fought  in  871  between  the  Danes  and  the  Saxons, 
when  the  latter,  under  the  command  of  Alfred  and  his  brother.  King 
Ethelred,  were  defeated;  and  in  later  times  it  has  become  no  less 
memorable  for  the  gallant  defence  of  Basing  House. 

There  appears  to  have  been  a  Castle  here  at  a  very  remote  period ;  for 
in  a  grant  made  to  the  priory  of  Monks'  Sherbourne,  in  the  reign  ot 
Henry  II.,  mention  is  made  of  the  "old  Castle  of  Basing."  This  appears 
to  have  been  rebuilt  in  a  magnificent  manner  by  Paulet,  the  first  Marquis 
of  Winchestei .  a  nobleman  in  some  degree  remarkable  for  his  skill  in 
courtierehip :  he  lived  during  four  reigns,  those  of  Henry  VHI., 
Edward  VI.,  Queen  Mary,  and  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  enjoyed  the.royal 
favour  in  all.  We  may  add,  that  he  himself  is  said  to  have  explained  the 
secret — the  "  being  a  willow  and  not  an  oak."  Basing  House,  according 
to  Camden,  was  rendered  so  magnificent  and  costly  as  to  bo  "over- 
powered by  its  own  weight;"  the  expenses  it  entailed  upon  the  owner 
were  so  great,  that  the  builder's  posterity  were  forced  to  pull  down  some 
part  of  it.  In  this  splendid  mansion  the  Marquis  had  the  gratification  of 
receiving  Elizabeth  in  1560,  and  of  entertaining  her  in  so  royal  a  manner 
that  she  playfully  lamented  his  great  age,  remarking,  "  By  my  troth,  it 
my  lord  treasurer  were  but  a  young  man,  I  could  find  in  my  heart  to 
love  him  for  a  husband  before  any  man  in  England."  The  Queen  came 
here  again  in  1601,  and  was  entertained  by  the  fourth  Marquis  for 
"thirteen  dayes,"  and,  as  we  are  told  and  can  very  well  believe,  "to 
the  greate  charge  of  the  sayde  Lorde  Marquesse,"  for  during  her  visit 
Elizabeth  received  in  State  the  French  ambassador,  the  Duke  of  Biron, 
who  was  accompanied  with  about  twenty  other  French  noblemen,  and 
a  retinue  of  some  four  hundred  persons.  It  is  recorded  that  the  Queen 
made  this  circumstance  a  matter  of  gratulation,  saying,  "  She  had  done 
that  in  Hampshire  that  none  of  her  ancestors  ever  did,  neither  that  any 
Prince  in  Christendom  could  do;  that  was,  she  had,  in  her  progresses, 
in  her  subjects'  houses,  entertained  a  royal  ambassador,  and  had  royally 
entertained  him" 

In  August,  1643,  Basing  House,  then  very  strongly  fortified  by  John, 
■fifth  Marquis,  for  the  King,  was  invested  by  the  Parliamentary  troops, 
and  for  a  period  of  two  years,  broken  however  by  occasional  intermis- 
sions, was  continuously  harassed  by  the  enemy.  During  this  time 
many  assaults  were  made,  particularly  by  Sir  William  Waller,  who 
within  nine  days  three  times  attempted  to  carry  the  House,  but  was 
repelled  with  great  loss,  and  ultimately  obliged  to  retreat.  On  their 
part,  too,  the  besieged  troops  kept  the  besiegers  in  a  constant  state  of 
anxiety  and    alarm  by  repeated  sallies.    After  Waller's  defeat  the 


The  Siege  of  Basing  House.  405 

Parliamentary  forces  of  Hampshire  and  Sussex  were  collected  unde» 
Colonel  Norton,  who  once  more  summoned  the  Marquis  to  surrender . 
The  answer  was,  "  If  the  King  had  no  more  ground  in  England  than 
Basing  House,  he  would  maintain  it  to  the  uttermost."  Famine  now 
promised  to  accomplish  for  the  Parliament  what  its  soldiers  could  not ; 
the  distress  of  the  garrison  became  so  great,  that  in  September,  1644, 
the  Marquis,  after  having  in  vain  sent  messenger  after  messenger  to 
Charles,  who  was  at  Oxford,  for  relief,  was  compelled  to  send  a  last 
notice  that  in  ten  days  he  must  surrender  if  no  assistance  were  given. 
For  the  time,  however,  the  brave  defenders  of  Basing  House  were  saved 
by  the  courage  and  address  of  Colonel  Gage,  who,  seeing  their  desperate 
condition,  volunteered  to  convey  them  provisions.  He  succeeded  in 
accomplishing  this  object,  and  in  returning  to  Oxford,  with  the  loss  of 
eleven  men  killed  and  forty  or  fifty  wounded.  This  protracted  defence 
would  naturally  draw  the  eyes  of  the  nation  upon  the  struggle,  and 
make  it  imperative  upon  the  Parliamentarians  to  succeed.  Accordingly, 
the  attack  was  next  confided  to  the  man  who  knew  not  defeat :  Crom- 
well appeared  before  it,  and  the  fate  of  the  place  was  sealed.  His  force 
consisted  of  three  regiments  of  foot  and  three  regiments  of  horse ;  the 
gan-ison,  according  to  Sir  Robert  Peake  (its  governor,  under  the  Mar- 
quis), of  three  hundred  fighting  men,  but  according  to  his  antagonists  of 
about  five  hundred.  The  House  was  also  defended  by  about  ten  pieces 
of  ordnance.  The  result  is  best  told  in  Cromwell's  own  brief,  business- 
like letter  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  dated  Octobei- 
14,  1645:— 

"Sir, — I  thank  God  I  can  give  you  a  good  account  of  Basing.  1 
After  our  batteries  placed,  we  settled  the  several  posts  for  a  storm:  \ 
Col.  Dalbeere  was  to  be  on  the  north  side  of  the  house  next  the  grange,  A/ 
Col.  Pickering  on  his  left  hand,  and  Sir  Hardresse  Waller's  and  Col. 
Montague's  regiments  next  him.  We  stormed  this  morning  after  six 
of  the  clock :  the  signal  for  falling  on  was  the  firing  from  our  cannon, 
which  being  done,  our  men  fell  on  with  great  resolution  and  cheerful- 
ness. We  took  the  two  houses  without  any  considerable  loss  to  our- 
selves. Col.  Pickering  stormed  the  new  house,  passed  through  and 
got  the  gate  of  the  old  house,  whereupon  they  summoned  a  parley, 
which  our  men  would  not  hear.  In  the  mean  time  Col.  Montague's 
and  Sir  Hardresse  Waller's  regiments  assaulted  the  strongest  work, 
where  the  enemy  kept  his  court  of  guard,  which,  with  great  resolution, 
they  recovered,  beating  the  enemy  from  a  whole  culverin  and  from  that 
work  ;  which  having  done,  they  drew  their  ladders  after  them,  got  over 
another  work  and  the  house  wall  before  they  could  enter.    In  thin. 


f 


^ 


406  The  Siege  of  Basing  House. 

Sir  Hardresse  Waller,  performing  his  duty  with  honour  and  diligence, 
was  shot  in  the  arm,  but  not  dangerously.  We  have  had  little  loss: 
many  of  the  enemies  our  men  put  to  the  sword,  and  some  officers  of 
quality ;  most  of  the  rest  we  have  prisoners,  amongst  which  are  the 
Marquis  and  Sir  Robert  Peake,  with  divers  other  officers,  whom  I 
have  ordered  to  be  sent  up  to  you.  We  have  taken  about  ten  pieces 
of  ordnance,  much  ammunition,  and  our  soldiers  a  good  encourage' 
merit"  &c. 

The  booty,  thus  delicately  phrased,  was  indeed  considerable,  being 
valued  at  200,000/.  It  consisted  of  money,  jewels,  provisions,  the 
magnificent  furniture,  and,  in  a  word,  the  entire  contents  of  Basing 
House.  The  provisions  and  furniture  were  sold  to  the  country 
people.  \^'hat  the  soldiers  left  a  fire  destroyed,  caused  by  the  neglect 
of  the  garrison  in  quenching  a  fire-ball  thrown  by  the  besiegers.  In 
less  than  twenty  hours.  Basing  House  literally  presented  nothing  but 
bare  walls  and  chimneys.  The  prisoners  were  about  two  hundred  in 
number,  and  the  slain  about  one  hundred :  of  these  there  were  counted 
in  the  House  immediately  after  the  assault  seventy-four  men  and  one 
woman,  a  young  lady,  the  daughter  of  Dr.  Griffith,  whose  fate  is  very 
pitiable.  "She  came,"  says  Mr.  Peters,  Cromwell's  messenger  to  the 
Parliament,  "  railing  against  our  soldiers  for  their  rough  carriage  towards 
her  father,"  whom  he  acknowledges  they  used  hardly,  on  account  of 
his  opinions  and  past  conduct.  Her  two  sisters,  and  six  or  seven  other 
ladies  of  rank,  appear  to  have  been  permitted  to  escape  without  any 
serious  injury.  The  Marquis  himself  would  in  all  probability  have 
fallen  a  victim  to  the  ivige  of  the  soldiers  but  for  an  incident  of  a  nature 
which  it  is  especially  gratifying  to  meet  with  in  such  transactions.  The 
week  before.  Colonel  Hammond,  the  Parliamentary  officer,  had  been 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Marquis:  when  the  assault  of  the  House  was 
evidently  successful,  and  all  hope  leaving  the  besieged,  they  began  to 
hide  themselves  where  they  could  from  the  fury  of  their  enemies ;  at 
that  moment  the  Colonel  was  relieved  from  his  imprisonment,  and,  in 
accordance  with  a  promise  he  had  previously  given,  endeavoured  to 
save  the  Manjuis's  life;  and  although  it  was  at  the  imminent  hazard  of 
his  own,  he  happily  succeeded.  Many  of  the  garrison  probably  escaped, 
and  others  miserably  perished  in  the  vaults  of  the  House.  Mr.  Peters 
nays,  "  Riding  to  the  house  on  Tuesday  night,  wc  heard  divers  crying 
in  vaults  for  quarter ;  but  our  men  could  neither  come  to  theni 
nor  they  to  us." 

In  the  concluding  portion  of  the  letter  from  which  we  have  before 
quoted,  Cromwell  recommends  the  destruction  of  Basing  House,  and 


The  Roman  City  of  Silchester,  407 

the  Parliament  concurred  in  his  recommendation.  From  a  survey 
made  of  the  spot  in  1798,  it  appears  that  the  area  of  the  works,  in- 
chiding  gardens  and  entrenchments,  occupied  about  fourteen  and  a  half  y 
acres.  The  form  of  the  fortifications  was  very  iiregular,  surrounded  \ 
with  deep  ditches  and  strong  and  high  rampaits ;  the  existing  remains 
were  peculiarly  bold  and  striking.  The  citadel  was  circular,  having  an 
oblong  square  platform  on  the  north,  defended  by  a  rampart  and 
covered  way.  The  north  gateway  was  still  standing,  together  with 
parts  of  the  outward  wall,  constructed  of  brick,  joined  with  great  care 
and  nicety.  The  site  of  the  ruins  is  bold  and  commanding.  The 
Basingstoke  Canal  now  runs  through  it. 

The  Marquis  lived  long  enough  to  taste  the  bitterness  of  ingratitude : 
the  Restoration  came,  but  brought  him  no  recompense  for  his  immense 
losses:  the  exertions,  the  anxieties,  the  gallantry,  and  the  fortitude  \\J 
which  entitle  the  Marquis  to  our  respect  and  admiration,  produced  no 
acknowledgment,  at  least  no  fitting  or  worthy  one,  from  the  son  of  the 
m«n  for  whom  so  much  was  done  and  suffered.* 


The  Roman  City  of  Silchester. 

On  the  border  of  Hampshire,  between  Strathfieldsaye  and  the  road 
from  Basingstoke  to  Reading,  is  Silchester,  or  rather  its  site,  where 
Constantine  issued  his  edicts  to  a  subdued  but  unconquered  people; 
where,  in  fierce  retaliation,  the  armed  chariots  of  the  warlike  Britons 
swept  the  plains,  spreading  death  and  desolation  far  and  wide ;  and 
where  the  barbarous  Saxons  invaded  and  despoiled  the  conquerors,  and 
with  fire  and  sword  reduced  this  Roman  city  to  a  heap  of  ruins. 

Silchester,  the  Vindomis  of  the  Romans,  and  the  Caer  Segent  of  the 
Britons,  is  thought  by  many  to  have  been  the  ancient  Cal/eva,  the  site 
of  which  has  been  so  much  disputed.  The  Roman  title  Vindomis  in- 
timates its  having  been  the  first  spot  in  Britain  where  vines  were  planted. 
The  tribe  of  Britons  who  were  more  immediately  concerned  in  wresting 
this  stronghold  from  their  invaders  were  the  Segontiaci, who  dwelt  in  the 
south  of  Berkshire, west  of  the  river  Loddon,  and  about  the  banks  of  the 
Kennet,  and  the  adjoining  north  of  fiampshire.  They  called  their  new 
conquest  Caer  Segont,  the  City  of  the  Segontians.  Its  present  name  of 
Silchester  would  appear  to  be  derived  from  the  Saxon  Sel,  great,  or 
high,  and  Cester,  a  city. 

•  Journey-look  of  Hampshire.  "The  Plundering  of  Basing  House"  is  one 
of  ^[r.  Charles  Landseer's  most  popular  pictures. 


7 


4^  The  Roman  City  of  Silchcster. 

The  waT.s  are  about  two  miles  in  circumference,  and  are  in  the  form 
of  an  irregular  octagon.  The  space  within  them  is  stated  by  some  to  be 
exactly  loo  acres.  The  defence  consisted  of  the  wall,  a  deep  fosse,  and  the 
usual  external  vallum,  or  breastwork  of  earth.  The  ruins  of  the  wall  are 
from  20  to  25  feet  thick.  The  top  of  the  wall  has  become  the  bed  of  a 
1  continuous  grove  of  trees,  of  such  fine  growth  and  size  that  we  are  in- 
formed upwards  of  2000/.  worth  of  timber  has  been  felled  here.  The 
city  had  four  gates,  placed  exactly  north,  south,  east,  and  west.  The 
area  presents  a  curious  appearance  in  the  autumn,  the  plan  being  easily 
traceable  by  the  difference  in  the  quality  of  the  corn  which  grows  on 
the  foundations  of  buildings  to  that  within  streets,  squares,  &c. 

Excavations  have  been  conducted  here  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington, 
to  whom  the  estate  belongs,  and  were  described  to  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries, on  May  9,  1867,  by  the  Rev.  J.  Joyce: — The  journal  of  the 
excavations,  which  was  handed  round  at  the  meeting,  enabled  one  to 
follow  from  day  to  day,  and  year  to  year,  the  advancement  of  the  work 
in  its  minutest  details.  To  describe  or  appropriate  buildings  would 
require  plans  and  occupy  considerable  space.  Among  the  more  striking 
points  are  a  hypocaust,  about  20  ft.  square,  the  conducting  chambers  of 
which  radiate  to  a  centre,  while  circular  flues  formed  through  the  solid 
intervening  portions  bring  all  into  communication.  Mosaic  and  other 
pavements  have  been  found,  with  the  tools  used  by  workers  in  mosaic ; 
also  roofing-tiles  and  hollow  flue-tiles;  Samian  and  other  pottery, 
greenish  glass,  a  piece  of  plaster  from  the  inside  walls  of  rooms  deco- 
rated with  colour,  and  a  piece  of  glass  tubing.  In  one  of  the  blocks, 
on  accurate  investigation,  it  was  found  that  a  scries  of  other  and 
older  walls  was  underlying  those  first  exposed,  and  ultimately  it  became 
obvious  that  beneath  the  surface  of  the  same  area  there  lay  the  lines,  not 
of  one,  but  of  four  ancient  houses,  erected  from  age  to  age,  and  one 
above  the  other  in  succession  ;  and  Mr.  Joyce  has  been  enabled  to  trace 
the  plans  of  each.  The  original  dwelling  seemed  to  him  of  the  date  of 
Claudius  I.,  or  Domitian  ;  the  second  structure,  built  by  partly  erasing 
some  of  the  lines  of  the  galleries  of  the  first,  is  held  to  date  about  the 
reign  of  Commodus;  here  were  found  the  hypocaust  already  men- 
tioned, and  a  mosaic  floor  in  a  wonderfully  perfect  state,  which  has  been 
removed  to  the  hall  at  Strathficldsaye.  The  third  mansion  built  over 
the  same  site  preserved  part  of  the  older  one,  in  the  new  work  the 
ground-plan  being  altered ;  this  is  of  the  date  of  Claudius  Gothicus, 
whose  coins,  and  those  of  his  predecessor,  were  found  there.  The  fourth 
and  last  condition  of  this  house  shows  six  large  and  nearly  square 
rooms :  from  their  size  and  similnrlty  to  auch  rooms  at  Pompeii,  coit« 


The  Roman  City  of  Silchester.  409 

fcctured  to  have  been  shops ;  and  in  one  is  a  tilework  base  of  something 
which  appears  to  have  been  employed  as  the  furnace  of  an  artisan.  The 
date  of  this  latest  structure  would  be  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Diocletian, 
and  perhaps  about  the  time  that  Constantius  Chlorus  came  to  Britain 
to  crush  the  revolt  under  Alectus.  But  the  more  remarkable  excavation 
is  that  of  the  Foium,  the  exterior  walls  of  which  have  been  traced  com- 
pletely round  and  laid  open  ;  it  formed  a  great  rectangular  mass  in  the 
very  heart  of  the  city.  The  internal  arrangement,  so  far  as  Mr.  Joyce 
could  ascertain,  appeared  to  have  provided  a  court  of  justice,  public 
offices,  shops,  a  central  exchange  or  market,  and  long  galleries  or  covered 
.  walks.  On  the  south-west  stood  the  court  or  basilica ;  the  semicircular 
end,  or  apsis,  in  which  sat  the  magistrates  or  their  friends,  is  perfectly 
defined.  In  a  large  apartment  westward  was  discovered  the  most 
interesting  Roman  relic  found  at  Silchester,  or  perhaps  anywhere  else  in 
England.  In  October,  1866,  Mr.  Joyce  found  here,  in  a  bed  of  burnt 
timber,  a  bronze  Roman  eagle  9  in.  in  length,  of  beautiful  execution, 
and  in  a  most  perfect  state.  By  careful  comparison  of  this  curious 
bronze  with  the  sculptures  on  Trajan's  column,  and  from  its  proportion 
to  the  size  of  the  human  figure  as  portrayed  in  the  existing  sculptures 
of  the  standard-bearers  of  the  legions,  this  is,  unquestionably,  an 
authentic  legionary  eagle  wrenched  from  its  staff,  probably  to  save  it 
during  some  desperate  struggle,  its  vertical  wings  torn  away,  and  then 
thrust  into  the  roof-timbers  to  hide  it  when  its  defenders  fled  for  life. 
As  regards  the  date  of  this  most  interesting  Forum,  the  coinage  ranges 
from  Vespasian  to  Arcadius;  several  coins  of  Titus  and  Domitian  were 
found  amongst  the  lowest  lines  of  the  masonry  of  the  basilica.  Just 
outside  the  walls  is  a  noble  amphitheatre,  one  of  the  largest  found  ir. 
this  country ;  the  size,  inclosed  by  the  mounds  once  presenting  ranges 
of  seats,  being  150  ft.  by  120  ft.  There  is  no  masonry  visible.  The 
area  is  said  to  have  been  covered  with  fine  sand,  which  gave  a  name  to 
the  iloor  of  the  amphitheatre,  and  thenceforth  to  all  places  for  display. 
Such  arc  a  few  of  the  more  prominent  results  of  the  excavations  at 
Silchester.  In  a  very  appreciative  "Walk  and  Talk,"  in  the  Bui/Jer, 
about  this  venerable  spot,  it  is  reasonably  asked,  "  Where  was  the 
burial-place  ?  An  interesting  find  awaits  the  explorer.  There  must 
be  somewhere  near  a  British  burial-place  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Romans." 

The  remains  of  a  Roman  villa  have  been  unearthed  by  the  Rev.  E. 
Kell  and  Mr.  Charles  Lockart,  in  a  field  at  Andover  Down  Farm, 
hitherto  known  as  "  Castle-field,"  and  where  fragments  of  Roman 
pottery  had  been  found.    By  means  of  a  long  iron  rod  the  finders 


410  StratJifieldsaye, 

alighted  on  the  wall  of  a  Roman  villa  65  ft.  long  and  41  ft.  broad,  witt 
a  portico  on  its  western  side.  The  roof  had  been  supported  by  six  or 
eight  massive  pillars,  vestiges  of  six  of  which  remained.  Numbers  of 
hexagonal  roofing-tiles  were  found;  also  two  fireplaces,  but  neither 
hypocaust  nor  bath  ;  and,  instead  of  a  tessellated  pavement,  a  floor  of 
flints  embedded  in  mortar.  The  walls  were  2  ft.  thick,  regularly  built 
of  flint-stones  and  mortar.  The  wall  of  the  portico  was  3  ft.  thick. 
Roman  coins  and  fragments  of  Roman  glass  and  pottery  were  picked 
up,  with  some  curious  relics  of  metal-workmanship.  The  archseological 
inference  from  this  discovery  is  in  support  of  Sir  Richard  Colt  Hoare's 
suggestion,  that  Vindonum  lay  on  this  side  of  the  present  Andover, 
near  which  remains  of  Roman  encampments  and  beautiful  Roman 
pavements  have  been  found. 

» 

Strathfieldsaye. 

Strathfieldsaye  is  about  three  miles  and  a  half  from  Silchester,  and 
derives  its  national  interest  from  being  the  seat  of  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton. The  term  Strath,  or  Strat,  as  it  is  usually  pronounced,  seems 
to  have  been  an  old  term,  signifying  a  "  stretch  "  of  level  ground  with 
elevations  running  along  the  sides.  The  addition  oiSay  appears  to  have 
been  derived  from  a  family  of  that  name,  who  originally  possessed  the 
domain,  and  from  which  it  passed  in  maiTiage  to  that  of  the  Dabridge- 
courts,  who  held  it  from  the  time  of  Richard  II.  to  the  year  1636. 
About  that  time  it  was  purchased  by  Sir  William  Pitt,  an  ancestor  of 
the  Earl  of  Chatham,  to  whom  it  descended,  and  who,  as  well  as  his 
equally  celebrated  son,  often  resided  here.  It  next  became  a  seat  of 
the  Earls  Rivers ;  and,  after  the  Battle  of  Waterloo,  the  manor  of 
Strathfieldsaye  was  purchased  for  the  erection  of  a  mansion  suitable  to  the 
dignity  of  the  rank  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  But  the  old  mansion 
remains,  and,  though  a  fine  place  enough,  would  scarce  attract  much  of 
the  traveller's  notice,  were  he  not  informed  that  it  was  once  the  seat  of 
the  most  illustrious  man  of  his  age.  It  is  situated  upon  one  of  the  edges 
of  the  county  of  Berks,  and  partly  in  Hampshire,  and  eight  or  ten  miles 
from  Reading.  It  was  built  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  partakes, 
both  in  its  architecture  and  general  anangcnunts,  of  the  spirit  of  the  age 
that  produced  it.  Facing  the  entrance  are  the  stables,  which,  with  the 
{[rooms'  apartments,  the  kennel,  teiniis-court,  and  one  or  two  out- 
buildings besides,  make  up  a  sort  of  village,  or  rather  street,  of  thcm- 
iclves.  All  this  is  completely  in  the  French  taste  of  the  day  when 
Marlborough  was  running  a  career  the  g^ory  of  which  Wellington  hai 


Strathfieldsaye.  4 1 1 

6ince  surpassed.  You  feel  at  once  that  the  place  ought  to  be  inhabited 
by  the  contemporaries  of  Harley  and  Dean  Swift. 

The  suite  of  public  rooms  which  occupy  the  ground-floor  consist  of 
a  drawing-room,  library,  dining-room,  and  the  late  Duke's  own  room, 
all  opening  one  into  the  other.  They  are  such  as  one  would  expect  to 
see  hung  round  with  paintings,  being  somewhat  narrow  for  their 
length,  and  otherwise  present  the  appearance  of  a  continuous  gallery, 
The  furniture  is  as  plain  as  can  at  all  agree  with  perfect  elegance.  Not 
a  single  work  of  art  adorns  the  apartments,  except,  indeed,  that  the 
dining-room,  besides  being  traversed  by  columns,  has  its  walls  covered 
over  with  very  curious  engravings.  But  neither  the  painter  nor  the 
sculptor  has  been  employed  to  adorn  an  edifice,  on  which  it  is  easy  to 
perceive  that  the  owner  has  never  cared  to  bestow  much  attention. 
Everything,  therefore,  about  it  is  good,  and  substantial,  and  comfortable 
of  its  kind ;  but  you  look  in  vain  for  the  splendour  which  greets  you 
at  every  step  in  Blenheim ;  you  are  still  in  the  dwelling  ot  the  Rivers, 
not  in  the  palace  of  a  Wellington. 

The  library,  which  is  an  excellent  room,  contains  a  tolerably  exten- 
sive collection  of  books,  chiefly  modern,  and  not  a  few  consist  of  copies 
of  works  which  the  authors,  the  natives  of  every  country  in  Europe, 
felt  themselves  honoured  by  being  permitted  to  present  to  the  most 
illustrious  man  of  his  time.  To  the  sleeping  apartments  the  same 
description  applies,  by  which  we  have  endeavoured  to  bring  into  the 
reader's  mind  some  idea  of  the  living  rooms. 

The  grounds  about  Strathfieldsaye  are  neat,  and  the  walk  upon  the 
lawn  which  interposes  between  the  house  and  the  river,  is  very  pleasant. 
The  tennis-court  also,  though  an  excellent  one,  is  as  little  assuming  as 
need  be ;  and  of  the  gardens  no  more  can  be  said,  than  that  they  are 
well  kept  and  abundantly  productive.  Within  a  few  minutes'  walk  of 
the  house,  stands  the  parish  church ;  a  neat  and  simple  edifice,  which 
was  repaired  at  the  cost  of  the  late  Duke,  and  fitted  up,  both  within 
and  without,  with  equal  taste  and  modesty.  Neither  was  his  Grace 
unmindful  of  the  wants  of  the  incumbent.  Owning  all  the  property, 
he  paid  out  of  his  own  pocket  an  ample  stipend  to  the  incumbent,  and 
thus  left  his  tenants  free  to  reap  the  advantages  of  any  improvementa 
in  agriculture  which  they  might  introduce. 

The  pleasure-grounds  lie  northward  of  the  house,  and  abound  with 
specimens  of  the  rarer  evergreens.  Among  others  are  several  cedare  of 
Lebanon  upwards  of  108  feet  high ;  a  fine  variety  of  the  red  or  penci. 
cedar,  and  several  superb  tulip-trees,  said  to  be  the  finest  in  England. 
Among  the  other  notable  trees  are  two  or  three  raised  from  chestnuts, 


4 1 2  StratJificldsa)  'e. 

which  the  Duke  received  from  America,  gathered  from  the  trees  which 
General  Washington  planted  with  his  own  hand. 

At  Strathfieldsaye  the  Duke  of  Wellington  was  not  able  entirely  to 
divest  himself  of  his  public  character.  As  Lord-lieutenant  of  the 
county  he  was  open  to  the  innumerable  claims  upon  his  time  of  county 
business ;  and  made  a  point  of  being  at  home  to  entertain  the  judges, 
as  often  as  they  passed  on  the  circuit  towards  his  neighbourhood.  It 
was  here,  too,  more  than  at  Walmer  Castle,  that  he  received  the  visits 
which  royalty  occasionally  paid  him.  Here  he  entertained,  in  other 
times,  George  the  Fourth.  Here  King  William  and  Queen  Adelaide 
spent  some  pleasant  days ;  and  here,  Queen  Victoria  and  her  princely 
husband  in  like  manner  became  the  Duke's  guests.  When  such  matters 
did  not  interfere  with  his  purely  domestic  arrangements,  the  habits  of 
the  Duke  at  Strathfieldsaye  were  quiet,  unostentatious,  and  philo- 
sophic, He  breakfasted  with  his  company  at  ten  ;  retired  to  his  own 
room  afterwards  ;  devoted  several  hours  to  his  endless  correspondence, 
except  on  hunting  days,  and  went  out,  either  to  ride  or  to  walk,  about 
two.  Seven  was  his  dinner-hour;  and  often  after  tea  he  fomned  one 
at  a  quiet  rubber  of  whist,  when  the  stakes  played  for  never  exceeded 
five-shilling  points. 

The  tennis-court,  already  mentioned,  was  formerly  a  riding-house ;  it 
was  appropriated  to  its  present  use  by  the  Duke,  who  was  an  ai'dent 
admirer  of  tennis. 

The  estate  of  Strathfieldsaye,  which  the  Duke  used  to  say  would 
have  ruined  any  man  but  himself,  had  more  done  for  it  in  the  shape  of 
permanent  improvements — of  draining,  of  chalking,  of  substantial  farm 
premises,  and  such  like,  than,  perhaps,  any  other  single  property  in  the 
south  of  England.  It  was  a  wretched  investment  of  the  public  money  ; 
but  the  Duke,  true  to  his  usual  maxim,  did  the  best  he  could  with  it, 
and  the  annual  income  for  a  long  series  of  years  was  regularly  laid  out 
upon  it.  Again,  not  one  shilling  of  the  rental  did  the  Duke  ever 
expend,  except  upon  the  improvement  of  the  property.  He  neither 
laid  by  so  much  a  year  in  the  funds,  nor  did  he  consider  himself  entitled 
to  devote  the  money  derived  from  it  to  his  own  uses.  "  I  am  a  rich 
man,"  was  his  argument,  "  which  tiie  next  Duke  of  Wellington  will  not 
be.  I  am,  therefore,  determined  that  he  shall  receive  his  patrimony  in 
the  very  best  order  ;  and  if  he  cannot  keep  it  so,  the  fault  will  not  be 
mine."  A  spot  had  Iwen  selected  in  the  park,  where  it  was  intended  to 
erect  a  new  palace,  the  model  for  which  we  believe  is  in  one  of  the 
nxims  of  the  old  house.  The  present  Duke  has  erected  on  the  estate 
a  stately  memorial  of  his  .illustrious  fatiicr. 


P or  Chester  Castle.  4^3 

The  estate  is  deemed  holden  of  the  Crown  on  condition  of  sending  to 
the  Sovereign  at  Windsor  Castle  a  tenure  flag.  The  visitor  to  the 
Castle  virill  doubtless  remember,  in  the  guard-chamber,  two  busts, 
each  with  a  banner  suspended  over  it,  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  doors 
which  flank  the  fire-place  of  the  apartment.  The  bust  on  the  left  is 
that  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  copied  from  Rysbrack  by  Sievier ; 
and  the  bust  on  the  right  is  that  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  by 
Chantrey.  Above  each  bust  is  a  small  banner ;  that  over  the  Marl- 
♦Dorough  bust  being  the  tenure  flag,  by  presenting  which,  yearly,  the 
estate  of  Blenheim  is  held  ;  and  that  over  Wellington  is,  in  like  manner, 
fhe  tenure  flag  by  which  Strathfieldsaye  is  held.  The  banners  are 
renewed  yearly ;  the  former  on  the  2nd  of  August,  the  anniversary 
of  the  Battle  of  Blenheim  ;  and  the  latter  on  the  i8th  of  June,  the  anni- 
versary of  the  Battle  of  Waterloo.  The  Strathfieldsaye  flag  is  a  small 
tricoloured  one,  with  a  staff  surmounted  by  an  eagle. 


Porchester  Castle. 

At  the  head  of  a  neck  of  land  jutting  out  towards  the  middle  dt 
Portsmouth  Harbour,  are  the  remains  of  this  very  strong  and  ancient 
fortress.  Its  precise  origin  is  unknown ;  but,  as  this  port,  from  its 
situation  on  the  southern  coast  of  Hampshire,  and  from  its  great  con- 
venience and  safety,  must  have  been  one  of  the  earliest  frequented  in 
the  Island,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  there  was  a  fortress  on  this 
spot  in  times  equally  remote.  Stow  ascribes  its  foundation  to  Gur- 
gunstus,  a  son  of  Beline,  in  the  year  375,  and  states  that  its  British 
name  was  Caer  Peris.  By  the  Romans,  its  next  occupiers,  this  harbour 
was  called  Partus  Magnus,  and  it  has  been  affirmed  by  some  historians, 
that  Vespasian  landed  here  on  his  first  arrival  in  Britain.  It  must  have 
been  in  his  possession  when  he  achieved  the  conquest  of  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  commanded  all  the  southern  coast,  and  engaged  the  Britons  in 
thirty  several  battles.  Vespasian  could  neither  command  the  coast, 
nor  make  himself  master  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  without  being  in  posses- 
sion of  Porchester,  where  he  must  have  made  his  abode  during  a 
part  of  his  stay  in  Britain ;  where,  unquestionably,  were  planted  hif 
tremendous  standards.  Titus,  the  son  of  Vespasian,  must  have  been 
with  his  father  upon  this  very  spot  at  Porchester ;  and  it  is  related  of 
him,  that  when  Vespasian  was,  on  one  occasion,  entirely  surrounded  by 
bai-barian  troops,  and  in  extreme  danger,  Titus  broke  through  the  ring 
they  formed,  with  incredible  boldness,  rescued  him,  and  putting  the 


i  J 


414  Pcrcltester  Castle. 

Britons  to  flight,  slew  many  of  them.    In  later  times  of  the  Roman 
dominion,  this  castrum,  hke  Richborough,  in  Kent,  was  one  of  the 
important  places  maintained  icK  the  defence  of  the  coast  against  pirates, 
under  the  command  of  the  great  officer,  styled  Comes  Llttoris  Saxonici. 
The  foundation  of  the  outer  walls  and  semicircular  towers  of  this 
Castle,  in  their  present  extent  and  form,  may  unquestionably  be  assigned 
to  the  Romans ;  but  it  has  had  great  and  important  additions  made  to 
it  in  succeeding  ages,  particularly  by  the  Saxons  and  the  Normans,  and 
again  by  the  English  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.     The  various  modes 
of  building  practised  by  these  different  nations  are  yet  discoverable  in 
the  different  parts  of  this  noble  remain.    The  fortress  is  of  quadrangular  ^^--,^  ^. 
form,  and  includes  an  area  of  nearly  five  acres,  or  610  by  620  feet.  /  ^  t^ 
The  walls  vary  from  eight  to  ten  feet  in  thickness ;  their  general  height     " 
is  eighteen  feet,  and    in   many  parts  a  rampart  and  parapet  remain. 
Besides  the  Keep-tower  at  the  north-western  angle,  there  are  eighteen 
towers  connected  with  the  walls  still  standing, — round,  square,  and 
semicircular.    The  outer  walls  distinctly  show  the  form  of  the  original 
castrum ;  but  the  mass  of  buildings  at  the  north-west  angle  of  the  area, 
and  the  two  gates  or  entrances  are,  collectively,  of  the  Saxon,  Norman, 
and  subsequent  ages.    The  first  innovation  upon  the  Roman  works  V 
was  that  of  substituting  a^axon  Keep-tower'at  the  north-west  corner 
of  the  Castrum,  in  place  of  the  ancient  Roman  round  tower,  and  as  a  . 
place  of  residence  for  the  chieftain  or  prince,  instead  of  the  Roman 
Pratorium,  and  adjoining  to  that  the  Sacellum  for  the  Roman  idolatrous 
\J  ensigns,   on  whose    foundations  was   afterwards  reared  a   Christian 

"^  church.  ' 

A  The  Keep,  which  is  essentially  early  Saxon,  is  a  lofty  structure,  and 
contains  two  vaults,  or  dungeons,  at  bottom,  with  three  double  apart- 
ments above  them,  in  so  many  several  stories :  its  walls  are  nearly  eight 
feet  thick.  All  the  light  which  it  originally  received  was  from  narrow 
loop-holes,  except  in  thr  third  story,  where,  on  two  sides,  in  what  were 
probably  the  state  apartments,  are  small  windows,  in  the  plainest  Saxon 
style. 

The  most  curious  part  of  the  inner  court,  Norman,  is  its  fortified 
[entrance,  a  portal  with  an  obtuse-pointed  arch,  including  a  strong 
gate;  further  on,  a  portjuliis,  and  lK>yond  that,  another  great  gate; 
eighteen  feet  further  inward,  a  second  portcullis,  beyond  that,  a  third 
great  gate,  and  a  sort  of  sally-port.  The  entrance-passage  was  vaulted, 
and  furnished  witli  machicolations  and  perforations  for  pouring  molten 
lead,  hot  water,  &c.,  on  the  heads  of  the  assailants ;  and  to  these 
•lachicolations,  and  the  battlements  above,  was  a  passage  fruni  liic  tup 


ChristcJmrch  Priory.  415 

of  the  walls  surrounding  the  inner  court.     Some  part  of  this  en-     ^ 
trance  is,  apparently,  of  as  recent  a  period  as  Henry  tlie  Sixth's  reign.      v^ 

On  the  site  of  the  Roman  sacellum  already  mentioned  was  probably 
erected  a  Saxon  church  ;  or,  certainly,  a  church  of  the  Norman  times, 
of  which  there  are  remains.  This  is  ascribed  to  King  Henry  I.,  who 
founded  on  the  spot  a  Priory  of  Austin  (or  Black)  canons,  in  1153  ; 
but  they  were  subsequently  removed  to  Southwick,  in  this  county. 
The  Castle  church  was  originally  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  with  a  low 
tower  at  the  intersection.  From  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
the  fortress  was  used  as  a  prison  for  foreigners ;  and  during  the  revolu- 
tionary war  with  France,  there  were,  at  one  time,  nearly  9000  French 
prisoners  confined  within  its  walls. 

In  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  (1290)  a  complaint  was  exhibited  against      ^ 
Henry  Hare,  Constable  of  the  King's  Castle  of  Rochester,  reciting  that 
John,   Bishop  of   Winchester,  being  absent  in  foreign  parts  in  the  ; 
King's  service,  and  all  his  possessions  being  in  the  King's  possession,  he,  i  "^ 
the  said  Henry,  with  his  anned  men,  foresters,  and  others  unknown,  1 
hunted  at  their  pleasure  in  the  free  chase  of  the  said  bishop.     In  1299 
the  Castle  and  Town  of  Porchester,  with  the  forest,  then  valued  at    ^ 
16/.  1 3 J.,  were  settled  on  Queen  Margaret,  as  part  of  her  dower.    In  • 
the  reign  of  Edward  II.  divers  of  the  commonalty  of  Southampton 
were    imprisoned    in  the  Castle  by   order  of  the  King,   until  they 
had    sworn  that    they    would    make    no    suit    against    the    King's 
Admiral  and  other  persons  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  who  had  burned  and 
plundered  their  ships  under  pretence  that  the  inhabitants  of  South- 
ampton were  partisans  of  the  Earl  of  Lancaster ;  and  for  which  out-  , 
rage  they   prayed  redress.      It   appears   also,   that   in   the  reign   ot  ' 
Edward  III.,  when  John  Hacket,  Lieutenant  of  the  Earl  of  Arundel, 
was  Constable  of  this  Castle,  the  Abbey  of  Glastonbury  was  bound  to 
find  for  its  defence  and  for  the  guard  of  Portsmouth,  three  men-at- 
arms  for  its  lands  in  Wiltshire,  and  one  man  for  those  in  Berkshire. 
In  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.  the  Constableship  of  Porchester,  together 
with  the  wages  and  feof  thereof,  were  granted  to  John,  Earl  of  Wor- 
cester.    At  what  period  this  Castle  was  granted  out  by  the  Crowu 
does  not  appear,  but  it  is  now  private  property.       <^a_^  " 


Christchurch  Priory. 

Christchurch,  in  the  south-west  extremity  of  Hampshire,  is  supposed 
from  the  discovery  of  ancient  remains  to  have  been  of  Roman  origin. 


4^^  Christchurch  Priory. 

In  the  neighboui  hood  appear  a  Roman  camp  and  entrenchments,  with 
several  tumuli  and  barrows,  which  have  contained  human  bones.  The 
town  derives  its  name  from  its  church  and  ancient  priory,  founded  by 
the  West  Saxons  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Confessor,  for  a  dean  and 
twenty  Austin  canons.  The  earliest  notice  of  Christchurch  is  in  the 
Saxon  Chronicle,  where  it  is  said  to  have  been  the  military  position  of 
Ethelwold  during  his  revolt,  when,  laying  claim  to  the  throne  of 
Alfred,  he  took  Christchurch,  but  was  compelled  by  Edward  the  Elder 
to  retreat.  By  the  Saxons  it  was  called  Tw^nehambourne,  and 
Tweon-ca  ;  and  in  Domesday,  where  it  is  mentioned  as  a  burgh  royal 
manor  containing  thirty  messuages,  it  is  called  Thuinam. 

Ranulph  Flambard,  Bishop  of  Durham,  rebuilt  the  Priory  in  the 
time  of  Rufus,  and  its  revenues  were  greatly  augmented  by  Richard 
de  Redvers,  or  Rivers,  Earl  of  Devon,  to  whom  the  manor  was  given 
by  Henry  I.  Fragments  of  the  Priory  walls  are  still  standing,  and  of 
the  Castle  Keep,  which  are  more  than  ten  feet  in  thickness,  and  in  the 
Norman  style. 

The  Church  is  a  very  fine  old  structure,  in  the  form  of  a  cross, 
partly  of  Norman  architecture.  It  exceeds  in  length  some  of  our 
English  cathedrals,  and  is  but  a  few  feet  less  than  Hereford  Cathedral 
or  King's  College  Chapel,  Cambridge.  It  was  founded  1150.  The 
nave  is  the  work  of  Flambard,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Durham,  who 
left  a  noble  monument  in  his  share  of  such  work  at  Durham  Cathedral. 
The  nave  is  118  feet  by  58  feet.  The  transept  is  loi  feet  by  24  feet, 
and  has  two  eastern  chantries  in  place  of  aisles.  In  each  wing,  on  the 
south,  is  the  original  Norman  apsidal  chapel.  The  choir  is  70  feet  by 
21  feet,  of  Perpendicular  design,  and  is  separated  from  the  aisles  by 
solid  empanelled  walls.  The  Lady  Chapel  is  of  the  same  date,  and  is 
36  feet  by  21  feet.  Above  is  the  St.  Michael's  loft,  the  ancient  Chapter 
House.  There  are  thirty-six  stalls  in  the  choir,  of  the  latter  part  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  bordering  on  the  cinque-cento.  The  north  aisle  of 
the  nave  is  one  century  later  than  the  one  on  the  south.  The  reredos 
is  very  fine,  and  represents  a  Jesse  tree.  The  screen  is  at  the  entrance 
to  the  choir :  through  the  exertions  of  Lord  Malmesbury,  backed  by  the 
expressed  opinions  of  the  British  Archasological  and  other  kindred 
associations,  it  was  rescued  from  destruction  about  three  years  ago. 

The  beautiful  fifteenth  century  stone  screens  of  this  Church  have 
befc»"x  restored  under  the  able  supervision  of  Mr.  Ferrey.  There  are 
several  other  monuments  belonging  to  this  famous  Priory.  The  remains 
of  the  chapel  or  chantry  erected  by  the  unfortunate  Countess  of  Salisbury, 
the  mother  of  Cardinal  Pole,  who,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years  (a7th 


TJte  Isle  of  Wight.  4 17 

May,  1541),  was  brought  to  the  block  by  Henry  VIII.,  now  exist 
in  great  beauty  in  the  eastern  end  of  the  Church.  The  chantry  has 
been  less  disturbed  by  time  than  by  ruthless  hands ;  Britton  attributes 
the  defacing  of  the  escutcheons  to  the  order  of  Henry  VIII.  No 
interment  has  taken  place  in  the  chantry.  The  Countess  was  interred 
in  St.  Peter's  Church  in  the  Tower.  In  the  south  aisle  is  the  chantrir 
of  John  Draper,  the  last  Prior. 


The  Isle  of  Wight. 

"  Of  all  the  southern  isles  she  holds  the  highest  place, 
And  evermore  hath  been  the  great'st  in  Britain's  grace." 

Dray  ton. 

The  Isle  of  Wight  may  be  said  to  contain,  within  a  small  compass, 
all  the  most  pleasing  and  picturesque  features  of  Great  Britain.  In 
beautiful  and  sublime  scenery,  much  of  it  of  a  kind  peculiar  to  itself, 
this  gem  of  the  ocean  is  surpassed  by  few  spots  on  the  globe. 

Its  history  is  chequered  with  change,  such  as  might  be  expected  from 
its  insular  situation  rendering  it  the  more  liable  to  attack.  The  Romans 
took  possession  of  the  Isle  (Vectis  or  Vecta)  in  the  reign  of  the 
Emperor  Claudius,  about  a.d.  45,  and  kept  it  till  495,  when  it  was 
reduced  by  Cerdic  the  Saxon,  who  is  said  to  have  cut  off  the  few 
aboriginal  Britons  that  still  remained  there.  During  the  Saxon  Heptarchy, 
when  England  was  unhappily  divided  into  little  kingdoms,  almost 
continually  at  war  with  one  another,  the  pleasant  hills  and  quiet  valleys 
of  the  Isle  of  Wight  were  often  made  "  to  run  with  blood."  In  678, 
when  the  population  of  the  Island  still  adhered  to  the  old  Druidical 
superstitions,  Casdwalla,  King  of  the  West  Saxons,  made  war  upon 
Edelwach,  King  of  the  South  Saxons,  in  whose  possession  the  Island 
then  was.*  Caedwalla  prevailed  in  the  struggle,  slew  his  rival,  and 
passing  over  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  put  all  the  people  to  the  sword, 
except  300  families,  who  were  forcibly  converted  to  Christianity,  and 
received  a  fourth  part  of  the  Island,  given  by  the  conqueror,  who 
had  made  a  vow  to  that  effect  to  Wilfred,  Archbishop  of  York.  The 
Island  was  mercilessly  plundered  and  desolated  by  the  piratical  Danes. 
In  1052  Earl  Godwin,  who  was  then  an  exile  and  an  outlaw,  having 


•  In  the  Collection  of  the  late  Lord  Londesborough  was  a  very  fine  assem- 
blage of  Anglo-Saxon  relics,  principally  personal  ornaments,  from  th«  Isle  of 
Wight. 

•  E  E 


41 8  7Jie  Isle  of  Wight. 

obtained  a  fleet  from  the  Earl  of  Flanders,  stripped  the  Islanders  of 
)all  that  had  escaped  the  rapacity  and  barbarity  of  their  former  in- 
vaders. 

At  the  period  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  William  Fitz  Osborne,  carry- 
iing  fire  and  the  sword,  subdued  the  Island,  and  became  the  first  Lord 
iOf  Wight.  He  bestowed  a  priory  and  the  church  he  had  founded  in 
the  Island,  on  the  great  Abbey  of  Lyra,  in  Normandy.  For  more  than 
two  centuries  the  Island  continued  to  be  governed  by  its  independent 
lords  or  petty  sovereigns;  but  in  1293  Edward  I.  purchased  the 
;regalities  for  a  sum  of  money,  after  which  the  Kings  of  England  re- 
itained  for  themselves  the  title  of  Lord  of  the  Island,  and  governed  it 
|by  wardens.  The  regalities  were  sold  by  Isabella  de  Fortibus,  Lady 
lof  Wight,  for  4000/. ;  and  she  is  said  to  have  died  on  the  same  day 
ithat  she  concluded  the  bargain,  and  alienated  the  rights  of  sovereignty 
from  her  family.  But  only  these  rights  or  regalities  were  sold  to  the 
.King,  as  she  disposed  of  her  estates  on  the  Island  by  will. 

The  weak  and  unfortunate  Henry  VI.  conferred  the  title  of  King  of 
the  Isle  of  Wight  upon  Henry  Beauchamp,  Duke  of  Warwick,  the 
King  in  person  assisting  at  the  ceremonial,  and  placing  the  crown  on 
his  head.  But  little  notice  has  been  taken  of  this  singular  event  by 
our  historians,  and,  except  for  some  other  collateral  evidence,  the 
authenticity  of  it  might  be  doubted ;  but  the  representation  of  this 
Duke,  with  an  imperial  crown  upon  his  head  and  a  sceptre  before  him, 
in  an  ancient  window  of  the  collegiate  church  at  Warwick,  leaves  no 
doubt  that  such  an  event  did  take  place.  It  appears,  however,  that  this 
ceremony  conferred  no  regal  power,  as  it  was  held  that  the  King  had 
no  right  to  touch  the  integrity  of  the  British  monarchy,  or  transfer  any 
part  of  his  sovereignty  ;  and  there  is  reason  to  conclude  that,  though 
titular  King,  he  did  not  even  possess  the  lordship  of  the  Island,  no  sur- 
render appearing  from  Duke  Humphrey,  who  was  then  living  and  had 
a  grant  for  the  term  of  his  life.  Henry  Beauchamp  died  soon  after 
these  honours  had  been  conferred  on  him,  June  11,  1445,  when  the 
regal  title  expired  with  him,  and  the  lordship  of  the  Island  at  the  death 
of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  reverted  to  the  Crown. 

Before  the  time  of  the  Duke- King,  the  Island  had  been  partially 
fortified.  During  the  reign  of  Edward  I H.  twenty-nine  beacons  and 
watch-towers  were  erected  at  diflerent  points,  in  order  to  spread  the 
alarm  over  the  whole  Island  when  the  enemy  was  approaching.  Two 
men  by  day  and  four  by  night  kept  watch  and  ward  at  eacii  of  these 
towers ;  and  every  landed  proprietor  was  bound  to  find  men  and  arms, 
in  proportion  of  one  man  for  every  20/.  a  year  his  estates  rendered 


Carishrook  Castle.  419 

him ;  and  the  Warden  of  Wight  could  summon  home  absentees,  and 
make  other  provisions  for  the  common  security.  Every  landowner  was 
bound,  when  called  upon,  to  do  garrison  duty  for  forty  days,  and  at 
his  own  expense,  in  Carisbrook  Castle,  which  was  often  attacked  by 
the  French,  but  never  taken,  the  Islanders  on  every  occasion  making  a 
gallant  defence.  In  the  fifteenth  century,  while  Henry  V.  was  deso- 
lating France  with  his  mad  wars,  a  body  of  Frenchmen  suddenly  ap- 
peared off  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  effected  a  landing  there;  but  they 
were  defeated  and  driven  back  to  their  ships.  From  this  time  till  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.  the  French  made  no  new  effort,  but  then 
they  succeeded  in  landing  on  the  Island,  and  plundered  a  good 
part  of  it. 

Shortly  after  this  sad  event,  the  Islanders  furnished  themselves  with 
parochial  artillery  ;  each  parish  provided  one  piece  of  light  brass 
ordnance,  which  was  carefully  kept  either  in  the  church  or  in  a  small 
house  built  for  the  purpose  close  by  the  church.  Towards  the  end  of 
the  last  century  some  sixteen  or  eighteen  of  these  guns  were  still  pre- 
served in  the  Island.  The  Islanders,  by  frequent  practice,  are  said  to 
have  made  themselves  excellent  artillerymen.  The  gun-carriages  and 
ammunition  were  provided  by  the  parishes,  and  particular  farms  were 
charged  with  the  duty  of  finding  horses  to  draw  them. 

From  the  time  that  the  naval  superiority  of  Great  Britain  was 
established,  these  measures  of  defence  on  the  part  of  the  Islanders 
became  almost  unnecessary,  and  the  Isle  of  Wight  had  nothing  to 
fear. 

On  St.  Catherine's  Hill,  the  most  elevated  point  of  the  whole  Island, 
"  there  is  a  stern  round  tower  of  other  days,"  which  was  built  above 
those  terrible  precipices  as  far  back  as  the  year  1323,  by  Walter,  lord 
of  the  neighbouring  manor  of  Codington,  who  assigned  certain  rents 
for  a  chanting  priest  to  sing  mass  in  it,  and  also  to  provide  light  in  the 
tower  (which  was  at  once  a  chapel,  a  hermitage,  and  a  pharos)  for  the 
safety  of  seamen  in  dark  and  stormy  weather.  At  the  Reformation 
the  trifling  revenues  were  sequestrated  or  alienatetl,  the  poor  monk 
ceased  his  mass,  and  the  lights  to  shine  across  the  deep,  where  rocks 
and  shoals  threatened  destruction  to  the  "  night-faring  skiff." 


Carisbrook  Castle. 

Among  the  fortresses  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  Carisbrook  Castle  claims 
the  pre-eminence,  from  its  great  antiquity  and  impregnable  strength. 


420  Carisbrook  Castle. 

That  it  was  originally  a  British  camp  may  be  inferred  from  the  shape 
of  the  hill  upon  which  it  is  placed ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
Vespasian  (who,  according  to  Suetonius,  m  the  time  of  the  Emperor 
Claudius,  fought  thirty  times  with  the  British  enemy,  and  reduced 
upwards  of  twenty  towns,  two  powerful  nations,  and  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  under  the  Roman  power)  found  on  his  amval  here  a  fortress, 
which  he  immediately  garrisoned.  Grose  tells  us  that  "  a  Castle  oi 
fort  was  built  here  by  the  Britons,  and  repaired  by  the  Romans,  when 
the  Island  was  subdued  by  Vespasian,  A.D.  45."  History,  however,  is 
silent  respecting  the  Roman  transactions  at  Carisbrook  ;  nor  do  we  find 
any  authentic  mention  of  the  place  until  530,  when  Cerdic,  King  ot 
the  West  Saxons,  having  destroyed  tte  Islanders,  gave  this  fortress  to 
his  nephew,  Whitgar,  from  whom  may  be  derived  its  present  appella- 
tion :  Whitgara-burgh,  or  Whitgar,  his  burgh,  being  purely  Saxon,  and 
but  little  altered  in  the  lapse  of  so  many  ages  from  its  original  sound ; 
though  some  prefer  a  derivation  from  the  Celtic  Caerbroc,  which  signifies 
the  town  of  yew-trees. 

Adjoining  to  the  present  church  of  Carisbrook  are  the  ruins  of  a 
priory  of  Cistercian  monks,  founded  soon  after  the  Norman  Conquest 
by  Fitz-Osborne,  Earl  of  Hereford.  There  is  scarcely  enough  of  the 
priory  left  to  make  a  picturesque  ruin.  Not  so  of  the  Castle  which 
stands  opposite  to  it,  but  on  a  much  higher  eminence  ;  where  towers, 
keep,  and  barbican,  ramparts  and  battlements,  frown  along  the  steep, 
and  are  just  sufficiently  ruined  and  ivy-clad  to  be  eminently  romantic 
and  picturesque.  The  Keep,  and  the  artificial  mound  it  stands  on,, 
which  lies  to  the  north,  and  is  much  higher  than  the  ground-plan  ot 
the  rest  of  the  fortress,  are  generally  supposed  to  have  been  raised  by 
the  Saxons  as  early  as  the  sixth  century. 

In  the  eleventh  century  Fitz-Osbome,  the  Nonnan,  included  this 
portion  in  his  larger  Castle,  which  covered  the  space  of  an  acre  and  a 
half,  and  was  of  a  square  form,  with  rounded  angles ;  the  base  of  the 
whole  being  surrounded  by  a  fosse  or  ditch.  In  this  Nomian  Castle 
lived  the  lords  of  that  race.  All  lands  were  held  of  it  on  condition  of 
serving  it  and  defending  it  at  all  times  from  the  enemy.  Hence  it  was 
called  "  The  Honour  of  Carisbrook." 

Fitz-Osbomc's  Castle  was  repaired  and  enlarged  during  the  reign  of 
Richard  II.,  by  Montacute,  Earl  of  Salisbury;  and  it  was  again  en- 
larged, and  some  parts  wholly  rebuilt,  by  the  unfortunate  Lord  Wood- 
villc,  who  sufTercd  at  Pontcfract,  June  13,  1483,  two  months  after  the 
tlcath  of  Edward  I V,  The  outer  walls  of  the  fortress  form  an  irregular 
pentagon,  and  arc  faced  with  stone,  and  defended  by  five  bastiona. 


Carisbrook  Castle  421 

having  a  break  in  the  centre  of  the  north  side.  These  fortifications 
were  the  work  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  who,  at  the  instigation  of  Sir  George 
Carey,  gave  4000/.  towards  the  repair  of  the  fortress,  when  the  Spanish 
Armada  was  expected.  The  gentlemen  of  the  Island  raised  400/.,  and 
the  commonalty  cheerfully  dug  the  outer  ditch  gratuitously.  Camden 
tells  us  (1594),  that  the  Castle  had  been  lately  restored  in  a  magni- 
ficent manner  by  the  Captain  of  the  Island. 

Among  the  curiosities  pointed  out  by  the  guides  to  the  stranger's 
notice  are  two  wells — the  one  in  the  centre  of  the  Keep,  said  to  have 
been  three  hundred  feet  deep,  but  now  partially  filled  up ;  the  other  in 
the  Castle  yard,  two  hundred  feet  deep,  where  water  is  drawn  by  means 
of  a  wheel  turned  by  a  donkey,  working  precisely  as  did  the  dogs  called 
"tuiTispits"  in  our  kitchens  in  former  times.  The  wheel  is  broad  and 
hollow,  and  furnished  inside  with  steps,  or  projecting  pieces  of  wood ; 
the  donkey  is  introduced  into  the  interior  of  the  wheel,  and  by  treading 
from  one  of  these  steps  to  another  turns  it  round,  and  makes  the  wheel 
act  like  a  windlass.  This  second  well  is  also  famed  for  having  the  pro- 
perty of  echoing  the  fall  of  a  pin  in  a  most  singular  manner. 


Carisbrook  Castle  was  in  one  instance  made  memorable  by  the  heroism  I     ^^.^   H^ 

V/      -^ 

~:ju      celebrated  royalist,  the  Countess  of  Derby.     At  an  early  stage  of  the  \/ 


of  a  female,  whose  adventures  in  some  respects  resembled  those  of  the! 


Civil  War,  Jerome,  Earl  of  Portland^  who  had  been  Governor  for 
Charles  I.  during  many  years,  was  removed  by  Parliament  as  a  Catholic, 
or  as  one  who  at  least  was  a  favourer  of  Popery.     Shortly  after,  when  .    \j 

he  was  suddenly  imprisoned  in  London  on  this  ground,  and  further         M 
accused  by  the  Commons  of  a  thoughtless  and  profligate  expenditure  of  O 

public  money  in  ammunition,  entertainments,  and  the  drinking  of  loyal 
toasts  in  Carisbrook,  t|p;  pi  incTpaTinhabitai^a^^f  the  Island  drew  up  a 
petition  in  favour  of  iRiV "noble  and  much  honoured  and  beloved 
captain  and  governor,"  in  which,  dropping  all  allusion  to  his  wasting  of. 
the  ammunition,  &c.,  they  stuck  to  the  more  important  question  of  his 
religious  faith,  declaring  that  not  only  was  he  a  good  Protestant,  but  I 
that  there  was  not  one  professed  Papist,  or  favourer  of  Papacy,  in  the  | 
whole  Isle  of  Wight.     This  petition  being  disregarded  by  Parliament, 
they  drew  up  a  spirited  remonstrance,  in  which  they  spoke  of  defending 
themselves  by  amis,  and  admitting  no  new  Governor  that  was  not 
appointed  by  the  King.  yTh^peop^>vere  very  differently  inclined ;  and 
they  were  led  by  Moses  Rea3,  tHe  Mayor  of  Newport,  who  declared 
in  favour  of  Parliament,  and  represented  the  great  danger  accruing  to 
the  State  from  the  Countess  of  Portland  being  ..allowed,,  to  ^.QntinueJQ. 
X"  the  Castle,  and  retain  Colonel  Brett  there  as  her  warden.  ^Read  soon 


1 1- 


J 


J 


422  Carisbrook  Castle. 

received  orders  to  seize  the  fortress,  and  secure  Colonel  Brett,  the 
Countess,  her  five  children,  and  other  relatives  who  had  taken  shelter 
within  the  walls ;  and  he  marched  upon  Carisbrook  with  the  militia  of 
Newport,  and  four  hundred  sailoi-s  drawn  from  the  vessels  at  anchor  in 
y  the  Island.  The  garrison  of  the  old  fortress  did  not  exceed  twenty  men, 
I  but  the  Countess  resolved  not  to  sun-ender  it  except  upon  honourable 
conditions.  At  the  approach  of  the  force  from  Newport,  with  a  lighted 
match  in  her  hand,  she  walked  deliberately  to  one  of  the  bastions, 
declaring  she  would  fire  the  first  cannon  at  the  foe.  Moses  Read,  who 
expected  no  resistance,  soon  came  to  terms  with  the  bold  Countess; 
the  Castle  was  surrendered  on  conditions,  and  her  ladyship  was  re- 
moved from  the  Island. 

The  next  memorable  incident  in  the  history  of  Carisbrook  Castle, 
is  its  having  been  that  to  which  the  unhappy  Charles  I.  fled  from 
Hampton  Court  on  November  5,  1647,  attended  by  two  confidential 
servants,  but  without  having  detei-mined  upon  any  particular  place  of 
refuge.  They  rotle  all  night,  and  finding  themselves  at  daybreak  in  the 
New  Forest,  in  Hampshire,  it  was  resolved  to  repair  to  Titchfield,  a 
seat  of  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  in  the  neighbourhood.  This,  how- 
ever, was  not  a  place  in  which  the  King  could  remain  in  security;  and 
U  was  then  resolved  to  send  a  message  to  Colonel  Hammond,  the 
Governor  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  intimating  the  King's  desire  to  avail 
himself  of  his  protection. 

Charles  thought  that  he  might  expect  to  find  a  friend  in  the  Colonel, 
who  was  a  nephew  of  his  chaplain.  Dr.  Henry  Hammond ;  but  he  was, 
in  fact,  a  devoted  partisan  of  Cromwell,  through  whose  interest  he  had 
married  a  daughter  of  Hampden,  and  had  also  obtained  his  post  of 
Governor  at  this  station.  At  firet,  however,  on  receiving  the  King 
into  Carisbrook  Castle,  he  treated  him  as  a  guest  rather  than  as  a 
prisoner — permitting  him  to  ride  wherever  he  chose,  and  to  receive  all 
who  desired  to  see  him.  It  was  not  till  after  some  time  that  his  move- 
ments were  subjected  to  any  restriction.  Hammond  then  informed 
him  thnt  orders  had  been  sent  down  for  the  instant  dismissal  of  all  his 
attendants ;  and  they  were  accordingly  compelled  to  take  their  leave 
the  day  following.  As  soon  as  they  were  gt)ne,  it  was  further  intimated 
to  the  'inhappy  King  that  he  must  for  the  tuture  consider  himself  as  a 
prisoner  within  tiie  walls  of  the  Castle.  \  le  was  still,  however,  allowed 
as  much  freedom  as  was  compatible  with  this  species  of  confinement — 
being  permitted  to  walk  on  the  ramparts,  and  to  amuse  himself  in  a 
bowling-green,  which  Hammond  caused  to  be  formed  for  the  purpose 
in  a  part  of  the  Castle  yard.    He  usually  inilulgcd  himself  in  the  former 


Carisbrook  Castle.  423 

exercise  in  the  morning,  and  in  the  latter  in  the  afternoon.  Much  ot 
his  leisure  was  also  occupied  in  reading.  Many  persons,  it  would 
appear,  also  still  contrived  to  gain  admission  to  his  presence,  under  the 
pretext  of  desiring  to  be  touched  for  the  king's  evil.  The  condition  ia 
which  he  was  kept,  however,  was  now  undisguisedly  that  of  a  prisoner ; 
and  his  thoughts,  as  well  as  those  of  his  friends,  were  naturally  directed 
to  the  means  by  which  he  might  effect  his  escape.  The  several  attempts 
which  he  made  for  this  purpose  may  be  found  detailed  in  the  Threnodia 
Carolina  of  Sir  Thomas  Herbert,  and  still  more  minutely  in  Sir  Richard 
Worsley's  History  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  where  many  particulars  are  pub- 
lished for  the  first  time  from  manuscript  documents.  The  first  attempt 
was  made  on  December  39,  and  failed  through  the  mismanagement  ot 
its  conductor.  Captain  Burley,  the  Captain  of  Yarmouth  Castle,  who 
was  besides  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  himself  apprehended  and  executed 
for  his  share  in  the  enterprise. 

A  faithful  follower,  of  the  name  of  Firebrace,  having  obtained  per- 
mission to  attend  upon  the  King  as  one  of  his  pages,  next  made  use  of 
the  opportunities  this  appointment  afforded  him,  in  consulting  with 
Charles,  and  devising  schemes  by  which  his  escape  might  be  effected. 
Among  other  plans,  Firebrace  proposed  his  getting  out  of  the  chamber- 
window,  and  fearing  the  bars  might  render  the  passage  too  narrow,  he 
proposed  cutting  them  with  a  saw;  but  the  King,  objecting  the  danger 
of  a  discovery,  commanded  him  to  prepare  all  things  else  for  his  de- 
parture, being  confident  he  could  get  through  the  window,  having  tried 
with  his  head,  and  judging  that  where  the  head  could  pass,  the  body 
would  easily  follow.  The  design  was  imparted  to  some  trusty  friends, 
and  with  them,  the  following  plan  of  operation  was  agreed  upon.  At 
the  time  appointed,  Firebrace  was  to  throw  something  up  against  the 
window  of  the  King's  apartment,  as  a  signal  that  all  was  clear,  on  which 
the  King  was  to  let  himself  down  by  a  cord  provided  for  that  purpose ; 
Firebrace  was  then,  under  favour  of  the  darkness,  to  conduct  him 
across  the  court  to  the  main  wall  of  the  Castle,  from  which  he  was 
again  to  descend  into  the  ditch,  by  means  of  another  cord  with  a  stick 
fastened  across  it,  serving  as  a  seat.  Beyond  this  wall  was  the  counter- 
scarp, which  being  low,  might  easily  be  ascended  ;  and  near  this  place 
two  other  friends,  Worsley  and  Osborn,  were  to  be  ready  mounted, 
having  a  spare  horse,  with  pistol  and  boots,  for  the  King,  while  a 
fourth,  Mr.  Newland,  remained  at  the  sea- side  with  a  large  boat,  ready 
to  convey  his  Majesty  wherever  he  should  think  fit  to  direct. 

At  the  appointed  time,  all  things  being  in  readiness,  and  every  one 
instructed  in  his  part,  Firebrace  gave  the  expected  signal,  on  which  the 


424  Carishrook  Castle. 

King  attempted  to  get  out  of  the  window ;  but  found,  when  it  was  too 
'ate,  that  he  had  been  entirely  mistaken ;  for,  although  he  found  an  easy 
passage  for  his  head,  he  stuck  fast  between  the  breast  and  shoulders, 
without  the  power  of  advancing  or  returning;  but  having  the  instant 
before  mistrusted  something  of  this  nature,  he  had  tied  a  piece  of  cord 
to  the  bar  of  the  window,  by  means  of  which  he  might  force  him- 
self back  again.  Firebrace  heard  him  groan,  without  being  able  to 
afford  him  the  least  assistance ;  however,  the  King  at  length,  with  much 
difficulty,  having  released  himself  from  the  window,  placed  a  candle  in 
it,  as  an  intimation  that  his  attempt  was  frustrated.  Had  not  this  un- 
fortunate impediment  occurred,  there  is  the  greatest  reason  to  believe 
his  escape  might  have  been  effected. 

It  is  said  that  a  Major  Rolfe,  who  happened  at  the  time  to  have 
charge  of  the  Castle,  was  ready  to  have  shot  the  King  should  he  have 
actually  commenced  making  his  descent. 

After  these  fruitless  efforts  to  obtain  his  liberty,  Charles  abandoned 
himself  to  despair.  In  this  state  he  remained  till  September  i8,  1648, 
when  he  was  permitted  to  remove  to  Newport  to  confer  with  the  Par- 
liamentary Commissioners  on  giving  his  promise  that  he  would  not 
make  another  attempt  to  escape.  On  the  29th  of  November  he  was 
seized  here  by  a  party  of  soldiers,  and  conveyed  to  Hurst  Castle,  oa 
the  coast  of  Hampshire,  which  he  left  only  to  undergo  his  trial  and 
execution  about  six  weeks  after. 

The  apartments  in  which  the  King  was  confined  are  now  in  ruins; 
but  a  window  is  still  pointed  out  as  that  by  which  he  made  the  attempt 
to  regain  his  liberty.  This  part  of  the  Castle  is  on  the  left  hand  upon 
entering  the  first  court  from  the  gates. 

At  the  south-east  angle  are  the  remains  of  Mountjoy's  Tower,  the 
walls  of  which  are  immensely  thick.  This  tower  is  of  great  antiquity, 
and  probably  coeval  with  the  Keep,  which  stands  at  the  south-east 
angle.  It  was  probably  a  fortress  of  the  Saxons,  round  which  Fitz- 
Osbome  erected  the  outer  walls.  A  lofty  mound  of  earth  has  been 
thrown  up,  on  the  summit  of  which  is  the  donjon  or  Keep.  The  en- 
trance is  by  an  exceedingly  steep  flight  of  eighty-one  steps,  whereby  an 
assailing  force  might  easily  be  precipitated.  Seventy-two  of  these  steps 
are  external,  the  remainder  leading  through  a  small  square  portal  to 
the  interior  of  the  Keep.  This  portion  is  assumed  to  be  Saxon  ;  for 
the  walls  are  not  only  rude  in  construction,  but  irregular  in  their  poly- 
gonal form,  antl  bear  no  similitude  to  that  massive  and  imposing  style 
which  the  Normans  introduced,  both  in  the  Castles  which  they  built 
anew  as  well  as  in  those  fortresses  of  their  vanquished  enemies  which 


Carishrook  Castle.  425 

they  adopted.  This  hypothesis  is  strengthened  by  Grose,  who  informa 
us  that  the  building  of  VVhitgar  falling  into  decay,  was  a  second 
time  rebuilt  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  by  Richard  de  Rivers,  Earl  of 
Devonshire,  whose  son,  Baldwin,  a  partisan  of  the  Empress  Maud,  en- 
deavoured to  defend  this  Castle  against  Stephen  in  1136,  but  unsuc- 
cessfully, as  the  King  took  it  in  the  first  assault.  It  was  again  besieged 
in  1377  by  the  French,  who  were  driven  off  by  Sir  Hugh  Tyrrel,  a 
Knight  of  Essex. 

It  was  subsequently  to  the  execution  of  Charles  that  his  two  youngest 
children,  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  and  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  became 
inmates  of  Carisbrook  Castle.  They  at  first  lived  with  the  Counters 
of  Leicester  at  Penshurst,  in  Kent,  where  Parliament  allowed  3000/.  a 
year  for  their  maintenance.  When  they  were  removed  to  Carisbrook 
the  young  Duke  was  attended  by  his  tutor,  one  Mr.  Lovel,  "an  honest 
man,"  as  Clarendon  calls  him,  and  both  he  and  his  sister  were  humanely 
treated.  One  of  their  greatest  hardships,  next  to  their  loss  of  liberty, 
appears  to  have  been  the  Parliament's  order,  "  That  no  person  should 
be  permitted  to  kiss  their  hands,  and  that  they  should  not  be  otherwise 
treated  than  as  the  children  of  a  gentleman."  Mildnuy,  who  was  then 
Captain  of  the  Castle,  observed  this  order  very  exactly,  so  that  the  Duke 
was  never  called  by  any  other  style  than  Master  Harry.  Two  years 
after  the  death  of  his  sister  Elizabeth,  the  young  Duke  was  hberated 
by  the  advice  and  influence  of  Cromwell,  who  caused  500/.  to  be  paid 
by  the  Treasury  to  defray  the  expenses  of  conveying  him  to  the  Con- 
tinent— the  only  condition  imposed  being  that  he  should  sail  directly 
from  the  Isle  of  Wight,  and  not  touch  at  any  part  of  the  English 
coast. 

It  will  be  interesting  here  to  tell  the  fate  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth 
at  Carisbrook.  About  eighteen  months  after  her  father's  death,  she  acci- 
dentally got  wet  on  the  bowling-green  of  the  Castle ;  fever  and  cold 
ensued,  and  her  weak  form  sunk  to  death.  Supposing  her  to  have  fallen 
asleep,  her  attendants  left  tne  apartment  for  a  short  time :  on  their 
return  she  was  dead,  her  hands  clasped  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  and 
resting  on  an  open  Bible,  her  father's  last  and  cherished  gift.  An  idle 
story  found  its  way  into  Hume's  and  other  histories,  to  the  effect  that 
the  Parliament  designed  to  apprentice  the  poor  Princess  to  a  button- 
maker  at  Newport ;  but  the  idea  never  went  beyond  a  republican  joke 
in  the  mouth  of  Cromwell. 

Her  remains  were  embalmed,  and  buried  with  much  pomp,  in  the 
church  at  Newport,  dedicated  to  St.  Thomas  a  Becket,  whose  murder 
and  canonization  were  recent  events  at  the  date  of  the  building  of  the 


4-6  Carisbrook  Castle. 

church,  in  1172.  The  letters  E.  S.  on  an  adjacent  wall  alone  pointed 
out  the  grave  of  the  Princess.  In  time  the  obscure  resting-place  of  a 
King's  daughter  was  forgotten  ;  and  it  came  upon  people  like  a  dis- 
covery, when,  in  1793,  while  a  grave  was  being  prepared  for  a  son  of 
Lord  de  la  Warr,  a  leaden  coffin,  in  excellent  preservation,  was  found, 
bearing  the  inscription :  "  Elizabeth,  2nd  daughter  of  the  late  King 
Charles,  deceased  September  8th,  MDCL."  Soon  after  the  discovery 
of  the  vault  a  small  brass  plate  with  a  brief  inscription  was  placed  over 
it,  inlaid  in  the  floor  of  the  church,  just  within  the  screen. 

The  Church  at  Newport  becoming  ruinous,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  rebuild  it  in  1856;  and  her  Majesty  the  Queen,  with  the  sympathy  of 
a  woman  and  a  princess,  took  the  opportunity  of  erecting  a  monument 
to  the  unhappy  Elizabeth.  The  design  was  confided  to  Baron  Maro- 
chetti :  it  represents  the  Princess  lying  on  a  mattress,  her  cheek  resting 
on  an  open  Bible,  bearing  the  words,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that 
labour  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  From  the 
Gothic  arch,  beneath  which  the  figure  reposes,  hangs  an  iron  grating, 
with  its  bars  broken  asunder,  emblematising  the  prisoner's  release  by 
death.  Two  side  windows  with  stained  glass  were  added  by  her 
Majesty's  desire,  and  the  inscription  thus  gracefully  records  a  graceful 
act:  "To  the  Memory  of  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  Daughter  of 
Charles  I.,  who  died  at  Carisbrook  Castle,  on  Sunday,  September 
8,  1650,  and  is  interred  beneath  the  Chancel  of  this  Church.  This 
Monument  is  erected,  a  token  of  respect  for  her  Virtues,  and  of 
sympathy  for  her  Misfortunes,  by  Victoria  R.,  1856." 

In  another  part  of  the  church  is  a  curiously  sculptured  monument  to 

Sir  Edward  Horsey,  a  Captain  of  the  Wight  in  the  time  of  Queen 

Elizabeth.      Sir  Edward  was  a  brave  and  fortunate  commander,  by 

r  aea  and  by  land.     He  was  much  beloved  by  the  favourite,  tlie  Earl  of 

"i|l^      \  Leicester,  who  entrusted  him  with  the  secret  of  his  clandestine  marriage 

1  with  Lady  Douglas  Sheffield,  whom  the  knight  gave  away  in  person. 

V*      JThis  circumstance,  however,  did  not  prevent  his  denying  all   know- 

^->^^^  /     I  ledge  of  the  nuptials  when  the  worthless  Earl  fancied  another  fair  one. 

lln  reward  for  services  like  these  the  favourite  gave  him  the  Captaincy 

lof  the  Island. 

The  fate  of  the  next  notable  inmate  of  Carisbrook  Castle  is  thus 
agreeably  relatal  in  Knight's  'Journey  Book  of  llampsbire : — "  After  the 
rimoval  of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester,  the  Commonwealth  continued  to 
use  the  Castle  as  a  state  prison.  One  of  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
inmates  of  Carisbrook,  at  a  somewhat  later  period  of  the  Common- 
wealth, was  Sir  William  Davenant,  the  poet,  and  god'W>n  (at  least)  of 


Osborne  House.  427 

Shakespeaie.  Davenant  had  adhered  to  the  Court,  and  fought  repeatedly 
in  the  field  against  the  Parliamentary  forces.  On  the  downfall  of  his 
party  he  fled  beyond  seas,  where  he  was  put  to  strange  shifts,  and 
derived  all  the  help  he  could  from  a  pretty  apparent  want  of  conscience. 
According  to  old  Aubrey,  when  at  Paris,  "He  laid  an  ingenious  design 
to  carry  a  considerable  number  of  artificers,  chiefly  weavers,  from 
thence  to  Virginia,  and  by  Mary,  the  Queen-Mother's  means,  he  got 
fevour  from  the  King  of  France  to  go  into  the  prisons  and  pick  and 
choose ;  so  when  the  poor  wretches  understood  what  his  design  was, 
they  cried  uno  ore  (with  one  voice),  ^ tous  tisierans' — We  are  all 
weavers  !  Well,  he  took  thirty-six,  as  I  remember,  and  not  more,  and 
shipped  them;  and  as  he  was  on  his  voyage  to  Virginia,  he  and  his 
weavers  were  all  taken  by  the  ships  then  belonging  to  the  Parliament 
of  England.  The  French  slaves  I  suppose  they  sold,  but  Sir  William 
was  brought  prisoner  to  England :  whether  he  was  fii-st  a  prisoner  at 
Garisbrook  Castle  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  or  at  the  Tower  of  London, 
I  have  forgotten.  He  was  a  prisoner  at  both.  His  Gondibert,  4to,  was 
finished  at  Carisbrook  Castle.  He  expected  no  mercy  from  the  Par- 
liament, and  had  no  hope  of  escaping  with  his  life.  He  was  saved, 
however,  by  the  intenention,  according  to  one  account,  of  two  alder- 
men in  his  favour,  according  to  another,  by  the  wit  of  Henry  Martin." 


Osborne  House. 

Osborne,  at  East  Cowes,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  was  originally  the 
teat  of  Lady  Isabella  Blachford,  of  whom  the  property  was  purchased, 
in  1844,  by  Her  Majesty.  The  mansion  was  in  the  occupation  ot 
Eustace  Mann,  Esq.,  during  the  Civil  Wars  between  King  Charles  I. 
and  his  Parliament.  Adjoining  is  a  copse  called  Money  Copse,  where 
the  proprietor,  it  is  paid,  during  the  \\'^ars,  buried  all  his  money,  plate, 
&c.,  but  upon  searching  for  it  the  treasure  could  not  be  found  ;  and  it 
was  long  the  general  belief  from  tradition  that  the  property  still  re- 
mained secreted. 

Osborne  adjoins  Norris  Castle,  a  modern  edifice,  where  the  Duchess 
of  Kent  and  the  Princess  Victoria  resided  in  1831.  From  a  plain 
mansion  Osborne  was  extended  into  an  elegant  marine  villa,  understood 
to  have  been  partly  planned  by  the  lamented  Prince  Consort,  and  built 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Cubitt. 


428 


Winchester  Cathedral. 

The  actual  history  of  Winchester  Cathedral  is  older  than  the 
authentic  history  of  England  itself.  In  the  dim  eras  of  tradition 
and  legend  we  can  descry  the  indistinct  outline  of  a  dominating 
place  of  worship  in  this  most  ancient  and  regal  city,  though  we 
can  tell  nothing  of  its  proportions,  of  the  manner  of  men  who  con- 
ducted the  rites  of  its  worship,  nor  even  of  the  material  of  which  it 
was  composed.  For  the  light  of  acknowledged  history  had  not  yet 
begun  to  shine  in  this  direction,  and  the  edifice  which,  in  the  course 
of  a  few  generations,  that  light  brings  clearly  before  our  mind's  eye, 
(touching  its  arches,  columns,  and  dark  doorways,  its  buttresses  and 
pinnacles  with  light  and  shade,)  is  as  yet  a  formless  shape,  shrouded 
in  obscurity,  and  dependent  for  its  very  existence,  so  far  as  we 
stand  related  to  it  at  least,  on  the  stories  borne  down  to  us  on  the 
breath  of  man. 

Of  the  city  of  Winchester  itself,  it  has  been  said  that  "  it  may 
possibly  have  existed  as  a  village  in  the  woods  for  a  thousand  years 
before  the  Christian  era,"  and  the  antiquity  of  the  first  temple  to 
the  Unseen  here  may  be  speculated  upon  in  a  fashion  almost  as 
vague  and  limitless.  But  however  interesting  the  earliest  tradi- 
tions of  the  first  local  church  may  be,  we  can  only  deal  with  them 
in  the  briefest  manner  here. 

The  foundation  of  the  first  Christian  church  at  Winchester  is 
attributed  to  the  British  "  Lucius,  the  first  Christian  king  in  this  or 
in  any  other  country,"  and  who  flourished  towards  the  close  of  the 
second  century.  Like  a  number  of  the  princes  who  had  preceded 
him  in  the  British  kingdom,  Lucius  clearly  obtained  his  knowledge 
of  the  Christian  faith  from  his  near  relatives  both  at  Rome  and  in 
Britain,  some  of  whom  were  among  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the 
religion  which  he  himself  professed,  and  which  he  desired  to 
establish  throughout  his  dominion.  Having  applied  to  S.  Elcu- 
therius,  then  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  for  prelates  to  instruct  himsclt 
and  his  people,  the  two  priestly  teachers  Fugatius  and  Duvianus 
were  sent  to  him.  By  these  Lucius  and  his  Queen,  and,  it  is  said, 
*'  the  greater  part  of  his  subjects,"  were  baptized.  He  then  founded 
churches  in  each  of  the  twenty-eight  "large  towns"  said  to  have  been 
then  in  existence  in  Britain,  and  which  before  had  been  the  chief 
seats  of  the  Flamincs  or  Pagan  priests.    He  added  to  his  appoint- 


Wmchcsier  Cathedral.  429 

ments  the  condition  that  the  Christian  teachers  were  to  draw  the 
revenues  which,  under  the  former  condition  of  things,  the  heathens 
whom  they  had  supplanted  had  been  in  the  habit  of  drawing,  thus 
showing  practically  that  he  meant  zeal  and  discretion  to  go  together. 

Lucius,  according  to  the  oldest  historical  writers,  built  the 
cathedral  of  Winchester  (not  from  the  walls  of  any  existing  edifice, 
but  from  its  own  foundations  in  the  earth),  and  fashioned  his 
building  "upon  a  scale  of  grandeur  and  magnificence  which  has 
never  since  been  equalled."  In  connexion  with  the  cathedral 
Lucius  is  stated  to  have  established  a  monastery.  The  date  of  the 
death  of  Lucius — with  whom  ended  the  dynasty  of  the  British 
tributary  princes — is  uncertain  ;  but  it  could  not  have  been  many 
years  after  this  event,  when  both  the  cathedral  and  the  monastery 
he  had  established  were  destroyed  by  the  Romans.  The  persecu- 
tion having  lasted  some  time,  at  length  abated  under  the  influence 
of  Constantius  Chlorus,  who  was  declared  successor  to  Maximian 
and  Emperor  of  the  West  in  305.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  put 
an  end  to  the  trials  of  the  Christians,  who,  emerging  now  from 
their  hiding-places,  resumed  their  usual  occupations.  The  rebuild- 
ing of  Winchester  Cathedral,  in  the  same  spot  and  in  the  same 
form  as  at  first,  is  believed  to  have  commenced  in  312,  and 
though  from  want  of  resources— there  being  now  no  British  king  to 
head  the  movement — the  second  was  a  mean  edifice  compared 
with  the  first,  yet  the  building,  with  the  religious  houses  adjoining, 
were  not  constructed  with  less  than  the  labour  of  five  years. 

The  withdrawal  of  the  Roman  legions  from  the  shores  of  Britain 
left  the  natives  in  the  miserable  dilemma  of  being  compelled  by 
the  Picts,  who  ravaged  their  inland  provinces  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  pirate  Saxons,  who  assailed  them  from  the  shore  on  the  other, 
to  choose  between  the  least  of  two  evils.  The  Britons  declared  for 
the  Saxons,  who  were  accordingly  invited  into  the  country,  with 
what  results  the  world  is  familiar.  The  immediate  result  to  the 
cathedral  and  its  monasteries,  however,  was  that  Cerdic,  who 
remams  famous  m  English  history  as  the  founder  of  the  West 
Saxon  kingdom,  sweeping  down  upon  Hampshire  in  495  with 
a  force  of  Norsemen,  succeeded  at  once  in  gaining  a  footing 
in  the  country,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  years  of  defeating  the 
British  forces  and  ultimately  capturing  Winchester  with  great 
slaughter,  profaning  its  church,  and  turning  it  there  and  then  inta 
a  heathen  temple. 

The  name  of  the  city,  which  was  known  to  the  Britons  as  Caer 


430  Winchester  Cathedral. 

Gwent,  to  the  Romans  as  Venta  Belgarum  (various  explanations  of 
which  names  are  given),  was  now  supplanted  by  a  Saxon  cognomen 
at  the  will  of  its  Saxon  conquerors.  By  them  it  was  called  Wint- 
anceaster  or  Winchester. 

Though  the  art  and  culture,  the  commerce  and  manufactures  of 
this  city — introduced  into  it  originally  by  the  Romans  and  main  • 
tained  by  early  British  princes  and  nobles — were  now  wholly  gone, 
Winchester  still  remained  the  chief  city  of  the  most  powerful  king 
in  the  island.  Accordingly,  Cedric,  having  resolved  to  declare 
himself  monarch  of  the  western  kingdom  in  the  most  public  and 
solemn  manner,  assembled  his  chief  subjects  together  in  his  capital, 
and  caused  himself  to  be  crowned  (519)  with  the  usual  ceremonies 
of  his  nation,  in  the  new  temple  of  Thor — late  the  cathedral  church. 

Before  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century,  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
island,  including  the  kingdom  of  which  Winchester  was  the  capital, 
had  received  the  Christian  faith.  The  apostle  of  the  West  Saxons 
arrived  at  Winchester,  at  King  Kinegil's  court,  in  635.  Miracles 
attended  the  divine  mission  of  St.  Birinus,  and  in  a  short  time  the 
Saxon  king  with  many  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  baptized. 
Ecclesiastical  activity  then  recommenced  throughout  the  little 
kingdom  and  throughout  the  country  generally,  for  the  new  mission 
was  now  being  freely  received  on  every  side.  Under  Kenewalk 
the  successor  of  Kinegil,  who,  after  a  turbulent  youth,  not  only 
became  a  Christian,  but  a  model  for  Christian  princes,  the  old  pro- 
faned cathedral  was  levelled  with  the  ground,  as  rendered  unfit  by 
the  desecration  of  the  Pagan  to  be  ever  again  used  in  Christian 
worship,  and  the  third  Christian  church  was  raised  on  its  site- 
Suitable  houses  for  the  monks  and  canons  engaged  in  the  monastery 
of  the  cathedral  were  also  instituted,  and  the  whole  establishment 
endowed  with  all  the  lands  which  Kinegil  had  left  for  that  purpose, 
to  whicli  he  added  the  manors  of  Downton,  Alresford,  and  Worthy. 
The  cathedral  was  dedicated  by  St,  Birinus  in  648. 
,  In  87 1  the  city  was  taken  and  the  cathedral  sacked  by  the  Danes  ; 
but  was  soon  after  restored  by  tlie  great  Alfred,  who,  probably  born 
in  Winchester,  the  seat  of  his  royal  ancestors,  was  trained  as  a  child 
within  the  ancient  walls  of  its  cathedral,  under  the  watchful  care  of 
no  less  a  personage  than  St.  Swithin  himself,  then  bishop  of  this 
sec.  Alfred  also  built  here  the  new  Minster,  as  a  place  of  burial 
and  royal  chantry  for  himself  and  his  family. 

Under  Edward  the  Confessor,  Queen  Emma,  his  mother,  was 
accused  of  being  accessory  to  the  death  of  her  own  son,  Alfred,  as 


Winchester  Cathedral.  431 

well  as  of  criminal  familiarity  with  Alwyn,  prelate  of  Winchester 
(1033).  The  Queen  wrote  letters  from  Whorwell  to  different  pre- 
lates insisting  upon  undergoing  the  proof,  so  usual  in  those  days, 
of  the  fiery  ordeal.  This  offer,  made  in  the  confidence  of  innocency, 
and  with  the  view  of  putting  an  end  for  ever  to  such  calumnies,  was 
at  length  accepted,  and  Queen  Emma  walked  over  nine  red-hot 
ploughshares,  which  were  placed  on  the  pavement  in  the  nave  of 
Winchester  Cathedral,  without  suffering  the  slightest  injury.  In 
memory  of  this  extraordinary  deliverance,  these  ploughshares  were 
buried  in  the  west  cloister  of  the  cathedral,  and  both  Emma  and 
Alwyn,  whose  name  had  been  so  maliciously  combined  with  hers, 
gave  each  of  them  nine  manors  to  the  church,  as  a  thanksgiving  for 
the  miraculous  justification  of  their  fair  fame.  But  this  story  does 
not  conclude  with  the  acquittal  of  the  innocent — it  records  also  the 
punishment  of  the  guilty.  There  had  for  some  time  been  in  the 
mind  of  Edward  the  Confessor  a  suspicion  that  Earl  Godwin,  one 
of  his  chief  nobility,  and  the  person  who  had  in  the  first  instance 
accused  Queen  Emma  of  having  brought  about  the  death  of  her 
young  son,  was  himself  implicated  in  that  foul  transaction.  This 
impression  afterwards  became  conviction.  The  king  and  a  vast 
concourse  of  prelates  and  nobility  were  observing  the  festival  of 
Easter  at  the  royal  city  of  Winchester.  A  great  dinner  was 
toward,  and  it  happened  that  the  butler,  in  bringing  in  a  dish, 
slipped  with  it,  but  recovered  himself  by  making  adroit  use  of 
his  other  foot.  "  Thus  does  brother  assist  brother,"  exclaimed 
Earl  Godwin,  thinking  to  be  sportive  at  the  butler's  expense. 
"And  thus  might  I  have  been  now  assisted  by  my  Alfred,  if 
Earl  Godwin  had  not  prevented  it,"  answered  the  king,  in  a  tone 
of  great  severity ;  for  the  earl's  exclamation  had  recalled  to  his 
mind  the  suspicion  he  had  so  long  entertained  against  him  with 
respect  to  Prince  Alfred's  death.  Upon  this  the  earl,  holding  up 
the  morsel  which  he  was  about  to  eat,  pronounced  a  great  oath, 
and  in  the  name  of  God  said  that  the  morsel  might  choke  him  if  he 
had  anything  to  do  with  that  murder.  The  king  then  repeated  a 
short  prayer,  and  the  earl  putting  the  morsel  into  his  mouth 
attempted  to  swallow  it ;  but  his  efforts  are  in  vain,  it  sticks  fast 
in  his  throat,  immovable  upward  or  downward  :  his  respiration  fails, 
His  eyes  become  fixed,  his  countenance  and  his  whole  body  con- 
vulsed, and  in  a  minute  more  he  falls  dead  under  the  table.  Upon 
this  the  king,  seeing  divine  justice  manifested,  and  no  doubt  re- 
membering with  bitterness  the  days  when  he  gave  a  willing  ear  to 


432  Winchester  Cathedral. 

the  calumnies  spread  about  his  innocent  mother,  was  stirred  with 
indignation.  "  Carry  away  that  dog,"  cried  he  to  his  attendants, 
*'  and  bury  him  in  the  high  road."  The  body,  however,  was  de- 
posited by  the  earl's  cousin  in  the  cathedral. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century  the  English  exchanged 
the  Danish  for  the  Norman  yoke — much,  ultimately,  to  their  own 
advantage.  But  the  arts,  accomplishments,  chivalric  sentiment 
and  general  civilization  which  the  barons  who  "  came  over  "  with 
the  Conqueror  introduced,  are  matters  which  cannot  be  noticed 
here,  except  as  these  were  brought  to  bear  on  the  architectural 
magnificence  and  on  the  history  and  traditions  of  the  cathedral 
under  consideration.  Winchester  continued  after  the  Conquest  to 
be  regarded  as  a  "  royal  city."  Here  the  king  "  wore  his  crown  " 
during  the  great  yearly  festivals,  and  here  a  number  of  the  early 
Norman  sovereigns  went  through  the  ceremony  of  coronation. 
Here  also  many  of  the  severe  and  oppressive  laws  and  restrictions 
affecting  the  nation  at  large,  were  first  planned  and  tried  by  the 
Normans.  It  was  in  this  city  that  William,  being  desirous  of  sup- 
pressing the  midnight  drinking-bouts  to  which  the  English  were  at 
that  time  so  much  addicted,  and  which  gave  them  so  many  oppor- 
tunities of  bewailing  Norman  oppression,  and  regretting  the  good 
old  days  when  Saxon  men  were  ruled  by  Saxon  monarchs,  enacted 
that  at  the  hour  of  eight  in  the  evening,  the  inliabitants  of  this  city 
and  of  the  country  generally,  should  extinguish  all  lights  and  fires 
in  their  houses,  and  not  rekindle  them  before  a  certain  hour  of  the 
following  day.  Tlie  signal  for  this  extinction  of  fires  was  to  be 
the  ringing  of  the  bell,  the  curfew  bell,  the  chimes  of  which  have 
given  music  to  English  prose  and  have  rung  in  English  verse  for 
many  generations. 

In  1079  Bishop  Walkelin,  a  relation  of  and  chaplain  to  the 
Conqueror,  and  a  man  whose  genius  and  heart  were  equally  broad 
and  magnanimous,  undertook  at  his  own  sole  expense  to  rebuild 
the  cathedral  and  the  adjoining  monastery  from  the  ground,  in  a 
.style  of  architecture  for  nobility  hitherto  unparalleled.  Only  a 
hundred  years  before  the  cathedral  had  been  newly  built ;  but  it 
had  suffered  from  Danish  barbarity  ;  and,  besides,  the  Normans 
with  their  much  higher  ideas  of  architecture  looked  upon  this  as 
upon  all  Saxon  buildings  with  contempt,  and  resolved  to  supplant 
them  whenever  possible  with  edifices  of  their  own.  In  the  course 
cf  this  work,  Walkelin  found  himself  distressed  for  timber,  and 
applying  to  the  Conqueror,  obtained  the  liberty  of  cutting  down  and 


Winchester  Cathedral.  433 

carrying  away  as  much  timber  from  the  King's  forest  of  Hampinges, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Winchester,  as  he  could  take  in  three  days. 
The  bishop  finding  that  his  consumption  of  wood  in  building  the 
new  cathedral  was  beyond  his  amplest  calculations,  collected  to- 
gether all  the  woodmen  he  could  get  in  the  country,  and  setting 
briskly  to  work  cut  down  every  individual  tree  of  which  the  forest 
consisted,  and  brought  all  away  within  the  prescribed  time.  The 
King,  passing  that  way  a  few  days  after,  turned  towards  the  place 
where  the  wood  of  Hampinges  had  stood — for  it  always  pleased 
him  to  gaze  upon  a  forest — but  was  struck  with  astonishment  to 
find  that  the  whole  wood  had  vanished  bodily — whisked  away  as 
by  the  waving  of  a  wizard's  wand.  "  Are  my  eyes  fascinated  .''* 
cried  the  King;  "or  have  I  lost  my  senses.''  For  certainly  I  thought 
I  had  a  beautiful  wood  here,  adjoining  to  Winchester."  Being  in- 
formed of  the  advantage  which  Walkelin  had  taken  of  the  per- 
mission granted  to  him,  the  King  was  at  first  mightily  incensed  and 
refused  to  see  the  bishop.  Walkelin,  however,  contrived  to  see  the 
King,  and,  falling  at  his  feet,  begged  to  be  forgiven  and  to  be  taken 
back  into  favour.  The  King,  who  knew  his  merit  and  sincerity, 
assented  to  the  request,  saying,  however,  "  Most  assuredly,  Walke- 
lin, I  was  too  liberal  in  my  grant,  and  you  too  exacting  in  the  use 
you  made  of  it." 

Meantime  the  cathedral  rose  apace,  and  after  the  lapse  of  eight 
years,  service  was  held  in  the  still  incomplete  building  for  the  first 
time.  This  was  in  the  reign  of  Rufus.  This  king  was  by  no  means 
so  generous  towards  the  church  as  his  father.  He  seized  all  the 
valuables  of  the  magnificently-appointed  cathedral,  and,  in  doing 
so,  broke  the  heart  of  Walkelin,  who  died  a  few  days  after, 
and  was  buried  in  the  nave  of  the  church  he  had  raised.  Two 
years  afterwards  Rufus  met  his  own  death,  and  the  calamitous 
event  was  generally  regarded  at  the  time  as  a  mark  of  the  divine 
wrath  against  the  family  of  the  Conqueror.  Hunting  in  the  neigh- 
bouring forest  he  was  accidentally  shot  by  his  own  bow-bearer,  and 
falling,  died  on  the  spot.  The  next  day  the  royal  corpse  was 
brought  to  Winchester,  defiled  with  blood  and  dirt,  and — oh,  the 
pride  of  kings  ! — in  no  more  stately  vehicle  than  a  charcoal  maker's 
cart  !  The  body  was  buried  in  the  choir  of  the  cathedral,  "  many 
people  looking  on,"  says  the  chronicler,  "  but  few  grieving." 

With  the  history  of  the  stirring  adventures  of  Queen  Matilda, 
daughter  of  Malcolm  and  Margaret,  King  and  Queen  of  Scotland, 
and  wife  of  Henry  I.  of  England,  the  royal  city  of  Winchester  is 
♦  F  F 


434  WincJiesier  Cathedral. 

closely  inwoven.  Her  escape  from  the  Castle  of  Winchester  when 
besieged  there  by  King  Stephen,  the  usurper,  was  an  exploit  equally 
creditable  to  the  ingenuity  and  the  romantic  spirit  of  the  mother  of 
Henry  Plantagenet.  Here  in  1207  Henry  IV,,  "Henry  of  Win- 
chester," was  born,  and  many  of  the  years  of  his  minority  were  spent 
here.  He  was  the  last  king  that  used  the  city  as  a  place  of  what  might 
be  called  permanent  residence.  The  royal  residence  was  changed 
for  good  by  Edward  I.,  and  this,  with  the  calamity  that  befel  Win- 
chester when  sacked  by  De  Montfort  during  the  Barons'  War, 
brought  upon  the  city  a  withering  blight  from  which  it  never  re- 
covered. Up  to  this  time  the  trade  of  Winchester  had  rivalled 
that  of  London.  Its  great  annual  fair  held  on  the  hill  of  St.  Giles, 
was  the  rendezvous  of  all  the  traders  of  the  country,  and,  taking 
place  as  it  did  close  to  the  port  of  Southampton,  was  visited  by 
merchants  from  every  country  in  Europe.  So  famous  had  this  fair 
become,  that  for  several  centuries  it  was  unrivalled,  even  by  the  fair 
of  Beaucaire  in  Languedoc.  During  its  celebration  the  hill  of  St. 
Giles  was  divided  into  streets  of  booths,  which  were  named  after 
the  countries  and  districts  to  which  the  merchants  who  had  their 
stalls  there  belonged — thus  there  was  the  Street  of  the  Flemings,  the 
street  of  Limoges — of  Caen,  of  Genoa,  &c.  Winchester  was  the  great 
seat  of  the  cloth-weaving  trade  from  very  early  times,  and  from  1333 
to  1363  it  was  the  staple  or  wool-mart  of  the  kingdom.  But  at  the 
latter  date  the  prosperity  of  the  city  had  begun  to  decline,  and 
Winchester  began  to  be  conscious  that  it  was  becoming  historical 
— had  had  its  day,  so  far,  at  least,  as  commercial  pre-eminence 
was  concerned. 

In  1366  a  notable  personage  rose  to  the  primacy  of  Winchester, 
and  took  into  his  hands  the  keeping  of  the  great  cathedral.  William 
de  Wykeham,  so  called  from  having  been  born  at  the  neigh- 
bouring town  of  Wickham,  of  a  father  cither  too  humble  to  claim  a 
surname  or  too  obscure  to  have  it  recorded,  was  indebted  for  his 
education  to  the  liberality  of  Nicholas  Uvedale,  lord  of  the  manor 
of  Wickham,  and  constable  of  Winchester  Castle.  As  a  student 
he  was  distinguished  for  diligence  and  piety.  He  was  especially 
expert  in  mathematical  science,  and  having  been  taken  into  the 
service  of  Uvedale,  his  patron,  he  first  turned  his  mathematical 
and  constructive  abilities  to  account  by  carrying  out  successfully 
the  alterations  and  repairs  of  Winchester  Castle.  Recommended 
to  the  notice  of  Edward  III.,  he  was  appointed  King's  surveyor  of 
works,  and  carried  out  buildings  or  repairs  at  many  great  castles, 


Winchester  Cathedral'.  435 

including  those  of  Dover,  Queenborough,  and  Windsor.  He 
afterwards  rose  to  be  successively  Secretary  of  State,  Keeper  of  the 
Privy  Seal,  Chancellor — in  short  the  King's  chief  counsellor  in  all 
public  affairs.  He  built  and  endowed  two  famous  colleges  at 
Winchester  and  Oxford  respectively ;  rebuilt  the  grand  nave  of 
Winchester — an  admirable  work  ;  and  after  a  life  spent  in  good 
works  he  died  in  1404,  and  was  buried  in  a  chantry  which  he  had  built 
for  the  purpose,  and  which,  for  beauty  of  design  and  workmanship,  is 
unsurpassed  by  his  finest  achievements  as  an  architect.  The  sides 
of  the  tomb  are  covered  with  trefoil  arches  and  crocketed  spandrels, 
and  emblazoned  with  mitres  and  with  the  armorial  shields  of  the 
bishop  they  commemorate.  The  image  that  rests  above  the  tomb 
is  specially  remarkable  for  beauty  of  execution  in  face  as  well  as 
figure.  At  his  feet  are  seated  three  quaint  little  figures  of  monks 
in  a  praying  attitude.  These  are  said  to  represent  three  favourite 
friars. 

With  William  of  Wykeham  a  certain  glow  of  glory  passed  away 
from  Winchester.  In  himself  he  was  too  great,  and  his  courtly  sur- 
roundings were  too  noteworthy,  for  his  absence  not  to  be  felt  after 
he  had  been  laid  in  the  tomb  which  he  had  prepared  as  his  last 
resting-place.  Winchester,  however,  had  still  its  attractions  and 
still  received  numerous  royal  visits.  In  its  cathedral  was  solemnized 
the  marriage  of  Henry  IV.  with  the  Queen  of  Navarre,  Duchess  of 
Brittany,  in  1403.  Henry  V.,  before  his  departure  for  Agincourt, 
here  received  the  French  Ambassadors,  and  feasted  them  in  the 
castle  in  141 5.  Here,  in  1487  Prince  Arthur,  son  of  Henry  VII.  and 
Elizabeth  of  York,  was  born  ;  and  here,  conferring  on  matters  of 
high  import,  and  viewing  together  the  antiquities  of  this  renewed  city, 
a  week  was  spent  in  companionship  by  the  Emperor  Charles  V. 
and  our  own  Henry  VIII. — a  name  which  brings  us  to  a  momentous 
crisis  in  the  history  of  our  famous  cathedral. 

Upon  the  death  of  Bishop  Fox,  early  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
**  it  was  easy  to  foresee  that  this  bishopric  would  fall  into  no  other 
hands  than  those  of  the  great  and  mighty  cardinal  who  then  en- 
grossed all  the  royal  favour,  and  a  great  part  of  the  royal  benefits 
and  richest  church  livings."  Wolsey  was  accordingly  formally 
installed  in  the  see  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  1529.  Before, 
however,  Wolsey  could  enter  on  this  most  remunerative  see,  he 
was  compelled  to  resign  office  as  head  of  the  church  of  Durham, 
and  the  recipient  of  its  revenues.  These  revenues  the  King  thought 
proper  to  bestow  on  another  kind  of  favourite— Anne  Boleyn,  to 


43<5  Winchester  Cathedral. 

wit,  maid  of  honour  to  his  wife  Katherine  of  Arragon.  Henry's 
intense  admiration  of  Anne  awoke  his  conscience  to  a  suspicion  o^ 
the  legahty  or  validity  of  his  marriage  with  Katherine.  He  sough 
a  divorce  from  Pope  Clement  VII,  Wolsey  was  employed  to 
negotiate,  but  matters  not  being  conducted  with  the  activity  which 
the  heat  of  Henry's  passion  demanded,  he  turned  round  upon  the 
slow  churchman  and  determined  on  revenge.  His  first  victim  was 
the  new  Bishop  of  Winchester.  His  fate  is  a  matter  of  history 
unconnected  with  our  cathedral. 

A  new  chapter  in  the  history  of  England  now  begins,  and 
incidents  and  measures  come  with  a  rush.  An  act  is  passed  by 
avaricious  and  extravagant  Henry,  and  his  obsequious  Parliament, 
discharging  the  King  from  the  payment  of  the  several  sums  of 
money  which  had  been  lent  to  him  by  his  subjects.  Directing  next 
his  attention  to  churchmen,  Henry,  in  his  usual  impetuous  way, 
simply  abolished  them,  there  and  then.  The  spiritual  supremacy 
of  the  Pope  was  renounced,  and  the  King  of  England  declared  head 
of  the  Church  in  England. 

These  sudden,  sweeping,  and  subversive  measures,  so  potent  in 
influencing  the  future  history  of  England  and  of  the  world,  had  theii 
real  source  and  spring,  not  in  Henry's  religious  convictions,  or 
in  those  of  his  subjects,  but  in  his  own  lasciviousness  and  avarice. 
The  affair  of  the  divorce  of  Queen  Katherine  erected  the  bridge 
over  which  the  King  walked  to  the  religious  supremacy  of  his  realm, 
and  the  business  of  the  supremacy  of  the  King  led  naturally  to  the 
suppression  of  the  religious  houses.  "The  suppression  of  the 
monasteries,"  says  Collier,  "  was  thought  the  easiest  way  of  fur- 
nishing the  exchequer."  This  measure  produced  the  most  momen- 
tous and  lamentable  results  among  the  religious  houses  of  Winchester. 
An  Act  of  Parliament  was  forthwith  passed  by  which  all  monasteries 
whose  yearly  revenues  did  not  amount  to  the  sum  of  200/.  were  to 
be  dissolved  and  their  revenues  diverted  into  the  King's  exchequer. 
The  greater  religious  houses  were  not  touched  by  this  first  tentative 
Act,  in  the  preamble  of  which,  indeed,  such  houses  are  spoken  ol 
with  the  utmost  reverence  and  respect,  as  "  divers  and  great  solemn 
monasteries  in  this  realm,  wherein,  thanks  be  to  God,  religion  is 
well  kept  up  and  observed."  liy  the  passing  of  the  Act  referred  to 
five  of  the  minor  religious  establishments  in  Winchester  were  sup- 
pressed. But  this  measure,  ostensibly  final,  was  really  only  preli- 
minary. Cromwell,  formerly  the  servant  and  now  the  successor  o{ 
Wolsey,  undertook  that  all  the  abbeys  and  other  great  monasteries 
fthould  at  once  make  a  voluntary  surrender  of  their  lands  and  pos 


Winchester  Cathedra!.  437 

sessions  into  the  King's  hands.  This  measure  was  forthwith  carried 
out.  The  fatal  effects  of  this  change  were  nowhere  more  sensibly 
felt  than  at  Winchester,  Fallen  from  all  its  wealth  and  grandeur 
as  a  royal  and  commercial  city,  the  number  and  splendour  of  its 
conventual  establishments  still  maintained  it  in  considerable  con- 
sequence, trade,  and  external  appearance.  Since  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.  Winchester  has  shown  no  more  than  the  skeleton  of 
its  former  state. 

The  progress  of  Winchester  towards  decay  was  accelerated  by 
the  accession  of  Elizabeth  in  1558  and  her  assumption  of  ecclesias- 
tical supremacy.  This  progress  downwards  continued  throughout 
the  whole  reign  of  the  Virgin  Queen,  and  was  only  interrupted  for 
a  brief  space  during  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  By  this  monarch's 
orders  the  church  was  repaired  and  redecorated,  furnished  with 
plate,  hangings,  and  with  the  miscellaneous  paraphernalia  requisite 
to  the  proper  performance  of  religious  service  ;  and  while  these 
decorations  and  alterations  were  being  carried  on,  the  ancient 
cathedral  was  visited  by  Charles  and  his  queen,  Henrietta  Maria. 
It  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  arms  of  the  royal  pair,  in  stained 
glass,  were  put  up  in  the  hall  of  the  Deanery,  where  they  are  still  to 
be  seen. 

It  may  have  been  the  kindness  shown  by  Charles  that,  when  the 
revolution  broke  out,  induced  Winchester  to  take  side  with  the  King, 
and  to  incur  the  penalty  that  has  usually  overtaken  the  adherents  of 
the  Stuarts — partial  if  not  entire  ruin.  Sir  William  Waller,  the  par- 
liamentary general,  made  himself  master  of  Winchester  in  1642,  and 
in  1644  his  soldiers  entering  the  cathedral  proceeded  to  wreak  upon 
it  an  insatiable  vengeance.  "  The  monuments  of  the  dead  were 
defaced,  the  bones  of  kings  and  bishops  thrown  about  the  church, 
the  two  famous  brazen  statues  of  the  kings  Charles  and  James, 
erected  at  the  entrance  into  the  choir,  pulled  down,  the  communion- 
plate,  books,  hangings,  cushions,  seized  upon  and  made  away  with, 
the  church  vestments  put  on  by  the  heathenish  soldiers,  riding  in 
that  posture  in  derision  about  the  streets,  some  scornfully  singing 
pieces  of  the  common  prayer,  whilst  others  tooted  upon  broken 
pieces  of  the  organ.  The  stories  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
curiously  beautified  with  colours  and  cut  out  in  carved  work,  were 
utterly  destroyed,  and  of  the  brass  torn  from  violated  monuments 
might  have  been  built  a  house  as  strong  as  the  brazen  towers  in  old 
romances." 

In  1645  Oliver  Cromwell  was  deputed  to  reduce  the  city  and 
castle  of  Winchester,  before  the  walls  of  which  he  punctually  ap« 


43  8  Winchester  Cathedral. 

peared  on  the  28th  September,  He  executed  his  commission  with 
his  wonted  rapidity  and  success.  The  town  capitulated  after  the 
siege  of  a  week.  Four  years  later  Charles  I.  passed  through  Win- 
chester on  the  way  to  his  trial  and  his  doom. 

After  the  Restoration  Winchester  recovered  its  dignity  as  a 
bishopric.  The  cathedral  chapter  was  now  restored  ;  the  remains 
of  the  ancient  kings  and  bishops  which  had  been  profaned  and 
scattered  about  by  the  enthusiastic  if  not  fanatical  Puritans,  were 
carefully  gathered  together  and  placed  in  two  mortuary  chests. 
The  chests  are  carved,  gilt,  and  surmounted  with  crowns,  with  the 
names  and  epitaphs  in  Latin  verse  and  black  letters  inscribed  upon 
Ihem.  The  royal  remains  thus  preserved  are  those  of  Kinegils  ; 
Ethelwolf,  the  father  of  Alfred  Kenelph  ;  Egbert ;  Rufus  ;  Queen 
Emma ;  and  Eared,  the  youngest  son  of  Edward  the  Confessor. 
There  are  also  the  remains  of  bishops  Wina  and  Alwin.  The 
broken  windows  and  defaced  ornaments  of  the  cathedral  were 
repaired  ;  the  statues  of  James  and  Charles  were  replaced  in  their 
niches ;  the  chancel  was  again  raised  and  inclosed  with  a  rich, 
well-carved  balustrade,  and  the  altar  table  was  restored  to  its  former 
position.  In  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  the  cathedral  was  still  further 
embellished.  The  altar-screen  in  particular  was  charged  with 
those  numerous  Grecian  vases,  which  now  incongruously  fill  the 
Gothic  niches  where  previously  had  stood  the  statues  of  saints  and 
apostles.  An  episcopal  throne,  elegant  in  itself,  but  also  incongruous 
in  itself,  as  being  of  the  Corinthian  order,  and  therefore  out  of 
artistic  harmony  with  the  Gothic  style  of  its  surroundings,  was 
raised  in  the  choir. 

The  history  of  Winchester  Cathedral  has  now  been  traced  down 
to  the  period  at  which  the  history  of  an  old  monastic  house  naturally 
ends — namely,  first  to  the  period  of  the  suppression  of  religious 
houses  strictly  so  called,  and  subsequently  to  their  conversion  into 
churches  of  the  established  ritual,  and  of  their  restoration  and 
alteration  to  suit  the  service  of  the  Church  as  performed  in  our  own 
times.  What  remains  now  to  be  done  is  to  cast  a  rapid  glance  at 
this  antique  cathedral  as  it  exists  at  the  present  day. 

The  visitor  to  Winchester  Cathedral  should  by  all  means  enter 
the  building  by  the  great  western  door.  The  length  of  this  cathe- 
dral being  greater  than  that  of  any  other  in  England,  the  view 
obtained,  looking  from  the  western  to  the  eastern  extremity,  is  un- 
usually grand  and  impressive.  The  eye  ranges  along  the  long- 
drawn  nave  to  the  eastern  window,  glowing  with  all  the  colours  of 
enamelling,  down  the  magnificent  forest  of  piers  and  clustered 


Winchester  Cathedral.  439 

pillars,  or  rises  to  the  lofty  vault,  fretted  with  tracery  infinitely 
various,  intricate,  and  beautiful,  or  is  lost  amid  the  shrines  and 
chantries  and  tombs,  with  their  splendidly  carved  canopies  and 
luxurious  ornaments.  The  nave  presents  to  us  one  of  the  most 
curious  instances  of  transformation  from  one  style  of  architecture 
to  another  that  has  been  preserved  to  us  ;  for  although  at  present 
it  is  a  perfect  specimen  of  the  elaborate  Gothic  of  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries,  yet  it  is,  in  its  heart  and  core,  the  original 
Norman  building  of  Walkelin,  over  whose  ponderous  pillars  and 
arches  more  recent  architects  have  drawn  a  Gothic  casing.  This 
nave  is  perhaps  the  most  beautiful  in  England.  The  Chantry  of 
William  of  Wykeham  is  one  of  the  best  remaining  specimens  of  a 
fourteenth  century  monument.  Among  the  other  chantries  those 
of  the  successive  bishops  of  the  cathedral  are  especially  to  be  noted 
as  beautiful  specimens  of  monumental  architecture.  The  old  font 
is  a  heavy  square  mass  of  dark  marble,  supported  on  one  massive 
central  and  four  corner  pillars,  and  ornamented  with  carvings  of 
doves  and  quaint  human  figures.  Turning  toward  the  altar,  we 
behold  "  a  magnificent  screen  of  the  most  exquisite  workmanship, 
in  stone,  which  this  or  any  other  nation  can  exhibit."  The  canopies 
and  lacework,  so  exquisitely  delicate  are  they,  fill  one  with  wondei 
and  delight.  Its  niches  were  formerly  filled  with  statues,  destroyed 
at  the  Reformation. 

Of  the  exterior,  the  western  and  by  far  the  most  imposing  part  of 
the  edifice  was  built  in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the 
builders  being  Bishops  Edington  and  Wykeham.  Massiveness  and 
simplicity  are  the  most  striking  features  of  this  part  of  the  cathe- 
dral ;  and  there  is  an  air  of  duration  in  them  which  is  not  expressed 
by  those  gaudy  buildings  in  which  the  parts  have  the  appearance 
of  supporting  each  other. 

The  general  impressions  produced  by  a  visit  to  this  cathedral 
are  profound  and  lasting.  How  many  generations  of  men  have  been 
gathered  to  the  dust  since  it  was  a  place  of  Christian  worship  !  The 
path  to  its  altar  has  been,  so  to  speak,  the  pathway  to  the  other 
world  for  thousands  of  men  for  a  thousand  years.  And  though  in 
this  long  tale  of  life  and  death  the  building  itself  has  undergone 
many  vicissitudes,  there  is  still  in  the  aspect  of  the  structure  an  air 
of  endurance  not  anywhere  to  be  matched  in  England.  Simple, 
massive,  and  without  even  a  crumbling  stone — peaceful  in  itself,  and 
producing  peace  in  the  heart  and  soul  of  its  beholder — it  stands  an 
emblem  of  that  faith  which  ought  never  to  fail  until  it  matures  in 
the  full  fruition  of  everlasting  glory. 


440 


DORSET. 

Dorchester  Castle  and  Prior}'. 

Dorcliester  is  a  town  of  great  antiquity;  tessellated  pavements, 
Roman  urns,  and  coins  of  Antoninus  Pius,  Vespasian,  Constantine,  and 
other  Roman  Emperors,  having  been  dug  up  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Placed  on  the  Icknield  Street,  it  must  have  been  of  some  importance 
m  the  time  of  the  Saxons,  as  two  Mints  were  established  here  by  King 
Athelstan.  The  town  was  nearly  destroyed  by  fire  in  1613.  It  was 
strongly  fortified  and  entirely  surrounded  by  a  wall  when  in  possession 
of  the  Romans  ;  and  the  site  where  an  ancient  Castle  stood  is  still  called 
Castle  Green.  The  fortress  itself  was  totally  demolished,  and  a  Priory 
ibr  Franciscan  monks  was  constructed  near  the  site  of  the  old  Castle 
out  of  the  materials  by  one  of  the  Chidlock  family,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  III.  The  church  of  the  Priory  was  pulled  down  at  the 
RefoiTnation.  In  Holy  Trinity  churchyard  was  buried  Dr.  ^^'iIliam 
Gumming,  physician  and  antiquary,  1788.  He  was  placed  in  the 
churchyard,  rather  than  in  the  church,  at  his  own  desire,  "  lest  he  who 
studied  whilst  living  to  promote  the  health  of  his  fellow-citizens  should 
prove  detrimental  to  it  when  dead." 

Many  severe  battles  were  fought  near  Dorchester,  between  the  King's 
and  the  Parliamentary  forces,  during  the  Civil  War.  At  the  Assi/.cs 
held  here  on  the  3rd  of  September,  1685,  by  Judge  Jeffries  and  four 
other  judges,  out  of  thirty  persons  tried  on  a  charge  of  being  implicated 
in  Monmouth's  rebellion,  twenty  were  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to 
death.  The  following  day  222  persons  pleaded  guilty,  and  eighty 
were  ordered  for  execution.  John  Tutchin,  who  wrote  the  Obser- 
vator,  in  Queen  Anne's  time,  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped  in  every 
town  in  the  county  once  a  year,  but  on  his  petition  to  be  hanged  as 
a  7mt'r^atton  of  his  punishment,  he  was  reprieved  and  subsequently 
pardoned. 

The  Abbey  of  Ccrne. 

The  Benedictine  AblK'y  of  Cerno,  in  Dorset,  was  founded  in  gSy, 
by  Ailmcr,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  or  ratlier  refoundcd;  lor  it  is  said  to 


The  Abbey  of  Cerne.  441 

have  owed  its  origin  to  St.  Augustine,  the  apostle  of  the  Anglo-Saxons. 
Here  was  buried  St.  Ed  wold,  brother  of  King  Edmund  the  Martyr; 
here  Canute  committed  one  of  his  many  robberies ;  and  here  the  famous 
Cardinal  Morton  once  lived  as  a  simple  monk. 

Only  a  few  loose  fragments  of  this  once  magnificent  Abbey  Church 
remain,  from  time  to  time  dug  up  on  the  site ;  among  which  is  the 
email  figure,  of  fifteen  century  date,  executed  in  Ham  Hill  stone. 
From  the  crown  or  coronet  on  the  brow,  it  would  seem  to  represent  a 
royal  or  noble  lady  who  held  the  office  of  Abbess,  for  she  app?ars  in 
pontificalibus ,  bearing  the  staff  in  her  right  hand,  and  supporting  a  book 
in  her  left.  Over  the  head  is  placed  a  hood,  round  the  neck  and  chin 
a  wimple  or  barbe,  and  she  wears  a  long  gown  with  ample  sleeves. 
We  rarely  meet  with  an  abbess  equipped  in  official  habit ;  but  another 
•ind  later  instance  occurs  in  the  brass  of  Isabel  Hervey,  at  Elstow,  Bed- 
fordshire. Quantities  of  encaustic  tiles  are  met  with,  mostly  of  Per- 
pendicular date  ;  among  which  is  one  with  a  stag  in  a  forest,  chased  by 
a  hound. 

In  removing  the  wall  of  a  pond  formed  on  the  line  of  the  little 
stream  which  flows  from  St.  Augustine's  well,  five  stones  were  found, 
which  were  fi-agments  of  a  most  beautiful  tomb  of  an  abbot.  The 
material  was  Purbeck  marble;  and  the  date,  tiie  very  best  period  ot 
Decorated  architecture.  The  eflfigy  is  sadly  ruined,  yet  enough  remains 
to  show  an  individuality  of  features ;  that  the  right  hand  held  the 
abbatical  staff",  and  the  left  a  book.  The  folds  of  the  dress  had  all  the 
delicacy  and  grace  of  Greek  art,  or  "  water-drapery."  There  are  also 
preserved  at  Cerne  Church  the  fragments  of  a  leaden  chalice  and  paten, 
found  in  the  grave  of  an  ecclesiastic  belonging  to  the  Abbey. 

All  that  remains  of  the  Abbey  is  a  stately,  large,  square,  embattled 
tower,  or  gatehouse,  now  much  dilapidated.  There  is  also  an  ancient 
bridge,  once  an  appendage  of  the  Abbey.  A  mansion,  called  the 
Abbey  House,  was  chiefly  built  from  the  ruins  of  the  Abbey,  and 
contains  incorporated  in  it  some  remains  of  the  more  ancient  Abbey 
House,  built  by  Abbot  Vanne,  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  parish 
church  was  built  by  one  of  the  late  Abbots,  for  the  use  of  the  parish- 
ioners. Several  beautiful  overflowing  wells  still  remain,  probably  the 
work  of  the  Abbots,  drawing  their  sources  through  subterranean 
channels  from  the  spring  of  St.  Augustine. 

On  the  southern  slope  of  Trendle  Hill,  near  the  town,  is  the  outline 
of  a  remarkable  figure  of  a  man  bearing  a  club,  cut  into  the  chalk ;  the 
height  of  the  figure  is  about  180  feet;  the  outlines  are  about  2  feet  broad. 
There  are  various  traditional  and  conjectural  statements  respecting  the 


i\4^  Wimbome  Minster. 

origin  of  this  figure.  It  is  repaired  by  the  townspeople  once  in  seven 
years.  One  of  the  traditions  is  that  the  giant,  after  eating  some  sheep, 
laid  himself  down  on  the  hill  to  enjoy  his  siesta,  and  was  pinioned  by 
the  inhabitants,  who  took  his  dimensions  that  way !  On  the  south 
point  of  the  hill,  over  the  giant's  head,  has  been  an  ancient  fortification, 
and  on  the  north  point  a  barrow.  There  are  several  barrows  on  the 
surrounding  hills. 


Wimborne  Minster. 

Wimbome  Minster,  a  very  ancient  town  in  the  eastern  part  of  Dorset- 
shire, is  supposed  to  have  been  a  Roman  station,  called  Vindogladia ; 
by  the  Saxons,  Vinbumam.  A  Nunnery  was  established  here  in  the 
beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  by  the  sister  of  Ina,  King  of  the  West 
Saxons,  upon  the  site  of  which  the  present  Minster,  or  Collegiate 
Church  was  built.  The  Nunnery  was  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  when 
the  establishment  was  converted  into  a  college  of  secular  canons,  which 
continued  to  exist  until  the  Dissolution.  Some  of  the  lands  were  set 
apart  by  Queen  Elizabeth  towards  the  support  of  the  Grammar 
School,  originally  founded  by  the  Countess  of  Richmond,  mother  of 
Henry  VII.,  in  1497,  though  now  called  after  Queen  Elizabeth. 

A  strange  accident  is  recorded  to  have  happened  unto  this  Church 
in  the  year  1600,  when  the  choir,  being  full  of  people,  and  the  streets, 
by  reason  of  the  market,  a  sudden  mist  arose,  all  the  spire,  of  very 
great  height,  was  strangely  cast  down  ;  the  stones  battered  all  the  lead, 
and  broke  much  of  the  timber  in  the  roof  of  the  Church,  yet  without 
any  hurt  to  the  people;  but  the  whole  was  repaired  about  i6io,  with 
the  Church  revenues,  "  for  sacrilege  hath  not  yet  swept  away  all,  being 
assisted  by  Sir  John  Hanham,  a  neighbour  gentleman,  who  enjoyed 
tlie  revenues  of  the  Church,  and  hath  done  commendable  to  converte 
parte  of  it  to  its  foi-mer  use." 

Parts  of  the  Minster  were  built  soon  after  the  Conquest.  It  is  a 
cruciform  structure,  108  feet  in  length.  It  once  contained  ten  altars 
of  alabaster  and  other  costly  materials ;  the  high  altar  was  particularly 
splendid.  There  are  two  quadrangular  towers,  one  at  the  west  end, 
and  the  other,  once  surmounted  by  a  very  lofty  spire,  at  the  inter- 
section  of  the  cross.  The  whole  edifice  is  particularly  deserving  of 
notice. 

In  this  Minster  was  buried  King  Ethclrcd,  the  brother  of  Alfied, 
who  was  slain  in  an  engagement  with  the  Danes,  in  873.     Among  the 


Wimborne  Minster.  443 

relics  preserved  here  before  the  Reformation,  were  pieces  of  Our  Lord's 
manger,  robe,  and  cross  ;  some  of  the  hairs  of  his  beard,  and  a  thorn 
of  his  crown ;  the  blood  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket ;  and  part  of  St. 
Agatha's  thigh. 

The  royal  burial  places  are  very  interesting.  Aldhelm,  one  of  the 
brightest  lights  of  the  Middle  Ages,  was  consecrated  first  Bishop  of 
Sherborne,  c.  705 ;  King  Beortric  was  buried  at  Wareham,  c.  784 ; 
the  elder  brothers  of  King  Alfred,  Kings  Ethelbald  and  Ethelbert,  were 
buried  at  Sherborne ;  and  Ethelred,  the  next  brother  and  successor, 
at  Wimborne — King  Cenwalh,  who  died  a.d.  672,  is  said  to  have 
been  a  benefactor  to  Sherborne.  Cuthburh,  sister  to  King  Ina,  built 
the  Monastery  at  Wimbonie,  A.D.  718.  King  Alfred  founded  the 
Benedictine  Nunnery  at  Shaftesbury,  c.  888 ;  King  Athelstan,  the  Bene- 
dictine Monastery  at  Milton  about  933 ;  Ethelmar,  Earl  of  Devon, 
that  at  Cerne,  c.  987  ;  and  Ore,  the  House-carle  (or  jllconomus)  of 
King  Canute,  that  at  Abbotsbury,  c.  1026. 

In  the  south  aisle,  beneath  an  arch,  is  a  raised  coffin  of  painted 
marble,  which  enshrines  the  ashes  of  one  Ettrick,  the  first  Recorder  of 
Poole,  an  eccentric  old  gentleman,  who  was  fully  persuaded  that  he 
should  die  in  1691,  and  accordingly  procured  his  tomb  to  be  made, 
and  had  the  date  cut  thereon,  as  may  be  plainly  seen,  the  same  being 
altered  to  17 17,  in  which  year  he  died  and  was  buried.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  placed  here  by  his  heirs,  because  in  his  lifetime,  being 
offended  with  the  inhabitants  of  Wimborne,  he  had  made  many  solemn 
protestations  that  he  would  never  be  buried  either  in  the  church  or 
churchyard. 

There  was  also  a  Castle  at  Wimborne,  which,  after  the  death  ol 
Alfred,  and  Edward  his  son  had  succeeded  to  the  kingdom,  Ethelwald 
the  atheling  seized,  together  with  the  Castle  at  Twineham  (Christ- 
church),  without  leave  of  the  King  and  of  his  witan.  "  Then  rode  the 
King  with  his  forces  until  he  encamped  at  Badbury,  near  Wimborne ; 
and  Ethelwald  sat  within  the  vill,  with  the  men  who  had  submitted  to 
him ;  and  he  had  obstructed  all  the  approaches  towards  him,  and  said 
that  he  would  do  one  of  two  things — or  there  Hve,  or  there  die.  But 
notwithstanding  that,  he  stole  away  by  night,  and  sought  the  army  in 
Northumbria;  and  they  received  him  for  their  King,  and  became 
obedient  to  him.  And  the  King  commanded  that  he  should  be  ridden 
after ;  but  they  were  unable  to  overtake  him.  They  then  beset  the 
woman  whom  he  had  before  taken,  without  the  King's  leave,  and 
against  the  Bishop's  command ;  for  she  had  been  previously  consecrated 
a  nun."    {^he  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle.')     It  is  implied  that  she  had  eloped 


444    Wmbo7irne  St.  Giles,  and  the  Shaftesbury  Family. 

with  Ethehvald  out  of  her  convent.  This  lady,  who  followed  her 
husband,  was  pursued  with  equal  pertinacity  by  Edward,  but  she  also 
had  the  good  fortune  to  escape. 


Winbourne  St.  Giles,  and  the  Shaftesbury  Family. 

Down  in  the  "garden  of  England,"  Dorsetshire,  there  winds  a 
little  stream  called  the  Allen,  once  called  the  Elain,  or  Fawn,  on  the 
banks  of  which  stream  stands  St.  Giles,  in  the  parish  of  Winbourne 
St.  Giles,  Upwinbourne,  Upwinbourne  Malmaynes,  or  Upwinbourne 
Plecy — Upwinbourne,  in  contra-distinction  to  Winbourne  itself,  which 
lies  lower — Upwinbourne  Malmaynes,  because,  long  long  ago,  when 
Edward  I.  was  King,  the  house  and  estate  belonged  to  the  Malmaines, 
of  whom,  however,  nothing  is  recorded,  save  that  they  came  from 
Hampshire — Upwinbourne  Plecy,  because  still  in  the  days  of  Edward  I. 
it  passed  into  the  hands  of  Robert  de  Plecy,  a  near  relative  of  the 
Earl  of  Warwick — Winbourne  St.  Giles,  after  the  Plecy  family  had 
dwindled  down  to 

"  One  fair  daughter,  and  no  more," 

who  gave  her  hand  and  fortune  to  a  Cornish  gentleman  of  the  name  o 
Hamelyn.  It  was  a  female  descendant  again  who  brought  this  estate 
into  the  family  of  its  present  owners,  for  Egidia  Hamelyn,  after  having 
married  a  husband  of  the  name  of  Thame  or  Tame,  whom  she  sur- 
vived, made  the  second  venture  with  Robert  Ashley,  a  Wiltshire  gen- 
tleman. By  him  she  had  three  children,  when  he  too  died.  This  lady 
appears  to  have  been  nothing  daunted,  however,  in  her  matrimonial 
career,  for  she  returned  again  to  the  old  stock,  and  took  as  a  tliird 
husband  a  second  Thame,  whose  Christian  name  was  Thomas.  The 
children  of  her  second  husband  increased  and  multiplied,  and  their 
family  tree  has  spread  into  two  branches,  om  boasting  amongst  its 
historic  names  James  Harris,  first  Earl  of  Malmesbury  ;  and  tlie  other 
Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  first  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  in  whose  family 
the  ancient  manor-house  and  park  of  Winbourne  St.  Giles  at  present 
remain.  This  manor-house  is  interesting  more  from  its  age  and  the 
great  names  with  which  it  has  been  connected,  than  from  any  beauty  or 
merit  of  its  own.  The  walls  of  this  "  parallelogram  in  three  parts,"  as 
it  is  described  in  the  County  H'utory,  are  ornamented  only  by  cheerless 
rows  of  monotonous  windows,  and  a  coating  of  Roman  cement.  The 
angles  are  strengthened  by  massive  quoins  of  the  same  material,  and  a 
long  line  of  hattlemented  roofs  protects  it  from  any  attempted  sicyc  on 


Winbourne  St,  Giles,  and  the  Shaftesbury  Family.  445 

the  part  of  the  cawing  rooks  in  the  neighbouring  trees.  The  water, 
however,  whether  arranged  by  nature  or  art,  is  excellent,  tumbling  over 
little  falls,  winding  through  narrow  passes  into  deep-shaded  dells,  where 
it  looks  dark  as  night,  yet  clear  as  crystal,  and  spreading  into  a  miniature 
lake  in  front  of  the  house,  where  the  teal  and  widgeon  and  wild-duck 
flock  as  unconcerned  as  though  the  wild  moor  still  surrounded  them, 
and  not  the  shade  even  of  a  Malmaines,  a  Plecy,  or  a  Shaftesbury  had 
ever  wandered  on  the  bank.  Girting  the  park  there  is  a  double  belt  of 
pine-trees,  tall  and  solemn ;  and  between  them  a  wide  walk  or  drive, 
carpeted  with  thick  soft  turf.  This  delicious  monotony  is,  they  say, 
ten  miles  long.  Before  entering  the  house  there  is  one  more  object 
which  remains  to  be  noticed,  and  that  is  the  "  grotto."  It  is  said  to  be 
the  finest  in  England,  and  to  have  cost  jo.ooo/. ;  to  be  composed  of, 
goodness  knows  how  many  million  shells ;  and  to  have  taken  two  years 
to  construct,  during  which  time  no  one  saw  it  save  one  man,  who  was 
employed  to  assist  in  the  work  ;  and  the  Countess  of  Shaftesbury,  who 
conceived  the  glorious  idea.  A  greater  service  to  Englishmen  has 
been  given  by  Sir  Anthony  Ashley  first  bringing  to  Winbounie  St. 
Giles  cabbages  from  Holland  in  the  year  1628. 

There  was  business  and  bustle  here  in  the  time  of  the  Civil  Wars  of 
Charles  I.,  during  which  the  first  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  then  Sir  Anthony 
Ashley  Cooper,  played  so  conspicuous  and  varied  a  part;  first,  when 
attempting  a  reconciliation  scheme  between  the  King  and  the  people  by 
a  system  of  mutual  concession,  which  was  frustrated  at  the  outset  by 
those  about  him,  as  indeed  it  would  have  been  at  the  conclusion,  by 
the  falseness  of  one  of  the  contracting  parties.  St.  Giles  was  gay  with 
bright  colours  and  cavalier  feathers  then.  When  the  Clubmen  were 
associated  (a  sort  of  armed  neutral  body  to  repress  the  excesses  of 
either  side),  soldiers  paced  its  halls,  where  ladies  and  carpet  knights  had 
stood  before  ;  and  they,  in  their  turn,  shifted  with  the  changing  fortunes 
of  its  master,  and  gave  place  to  the  lank  looks  and  sober  garb  of  the 
Puritans.  Courted  by  both  parties,  and  mistrusted  by  both  parties, 
placed  in  high  commands,  and  disgraced,  by  both  parties.  Sir  Anthony 
Ashley  Cooper  seems  yet  to  have  been  more  consistent  than  the  times 
in  which  he  lived.  He  is  said  to  have  been  inordinately  ambitious ; 
but  there  is  generally  a  system  in  ambition,  and  there  was  but  little  in 
the  career  of  this  man.  Now  in  the  King's  confidence  and  of  his 
party ;  now  passing  over  to  that  of  the  Parliament,  but  yet  refusing  to 
bring  the  secrets  of  the  other  side  over  with  him  ;  now  fighting  at  the 
head  of  fifteen  hundred  men  in  his  own  county  on  the  popular  side ; 
now  assisting  the  Restoration,  and  finally  taking  his  place  as  Lord 


44^         Shaftesbury  Nunnery,  and  Prize  Byzant. 

Chancellor  under  the  new  regime ;  and  this  not  for  long — he  and  a 
Court  so  corrupt  could  not  be  friends,  so  that  his  last  public  appear- 
ance is  at  his  trial  on  a  groundless  charge  of  high  treason,  and  then  be 
retires  to  Holland  to  die.  His  portrait  is  herein  his  Chancellor's  robes. 
There  are  two  portraits  by  Lely  of  the  second  Earl  and  Countess,  the 
lady  with  that  decolte,  degage  air,  peculiar  to  that  age  and  painter ; 
two  large  landscapes  by  Salvator  Rosa,  and  many  smaller  pictures  of 
more  or  less  merit.  In  the  library  there  is  a  portrait  of  old  Henry 
Hastings,  related  to  the  Earls  of  Huntingdon,  with  a  sketch  of  his 
character,  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  the  first  Earl  of  Shaftes- 
bury. There  is  a  portrait,  too,  of  a  Countess  of  1854,  more  beautiful 
by  far  than  that  Dorothy  of  1684,  and  with  a  grace  and  lady-like  air 
which  ought  to  put  that  bold  person  to  the  blush.  A  chimney-piece, 
a  ceiling,  and  a  doorway  by  Inigo  Jones,  complete  the  artistic 
embellishments  of  the  place. — Abridged  from  a  Communication  to  the 
Builder. 


Shaftesbury  Nunnery,  and  Prize  Byzant. 

Shaftesbury  is  supposed  to  have  existed  in  the  time  of  the  Britons, 
and  to  have  been  called  by  them  Caer  Palladwr.  Drayton  speaks  of 
Mount  Pallador  as  though  it  were  the  name  of  the  hill  on  which  the 
town  stands.  Roman  coins  have  been  found  here.  Alfred  restored 
Shaftesbury  after  it  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Danes.  An  ancient  in- 
scription on  a  stone  removed  from  the  ruins  of  a  religious  house,  and 
mentioned  by  William  of  Malmcsbury,  led  Camden  and  others  to 
ascribe  to  Alfred  the  foundation  of  the  town  :  it  contains  the  words, 
"j^llfredus  Rex  fecit  banc  urbem."  The  town  was  called  by  the  Saxons 
"  Seeftesbyrig  ; "  the  name  in  Domesday  Book  is  "  Scepterbcrie ;"  it 
was  variously  written  by  the  historians  of  the  Middle  Ages,  until  it 
assumed  its  present  form,  which  is  sometimes  altered  into  Shaston, 
or,  more  correctly,  Shafton.  In  the  reign  of  Athclstan  there  were  in 
the  place  two  Mints,  and  an  Abbey  of  Benedictine  Nuns,  of  which 
Ethelflcda,  daughter  of  Alfred  the  Great,  was  the  first  Abbess.  This 
Nunnery  l)ccame  the  richest  in  England.  To  this  place  was  removed 
from  Warcham  the  body  or  part  of  the  body  of  King  Edward  the 
Martyr  for  burial.  The  possession  of  this  relic  added  much  to  the 
reputation  of  the  Abbey,  and  among  other  visitors  attracted  by  it  was 
Canute  the  Great,  who  was  very  bountiful,  and  we  are  told  that  he 
"  scattered  gold  and  silver  "  with  unparalleled  liberality.  Canute  died 
at  Shaftesbury,  and  was  buried  at  Winchester,  the  usual  place  of  inter- 


Shaftesbury  Nunnery,  ajid  Prize  Byzant.        447 

ment  of  the  Saxon  Kings,  Canute,  successful  in  war,  was  in  peace 
humane,  gentle,  and  religious.  William  of  Malmesbury  says  of  him, 
that  by  his  piety,  justice,  and  moderation,  he  gained  the  affections  ol 
his  subjects,  and  an  universal  esteem  among  foreigners. 

Shaftesbury  is  said  to  have  had  twelve  churches  prior  to  the  reign  of 
William  I.,  but  there  are  only  three  at  present.  Of  the  Abbey  there 
are  no  remains,  and  scarcely  of  the  conventual  buildings.  In  the  Abbey, 
Elizabeth,  wife  of  Robert  Bruce,  King  of  Scotland,  was  detained  a 
prisoner  in  1313-14.  On  the  brow  of  the  hill  west  of  the  town  is  a 
small  mound,  or  earthwork.  The  ground  adjacent  is  called  the 
Castle-green,  or  Castle-hill,  but  there  is  no  account  of  a  Castle  having 
stood  there. 

Shaftesbury  has  been  from  time  immemorial  ill  supplied  with  water. 
On  the  top  of  the  hill  on  which  the  town  is  built,  is  a  well  of  prodigious 
depth,  from  which  the  inhabitants  are  partly  supplied  with  water,  which 
is  drawn  by  machinery  worked  by  a  horse.  The  town  was  formerly 
supplied  from  Motcombe,  on  the  backs  of  horses,  for  which  the 
corporation  of  Shaftesbury  paid  tribute.  This  scarcity  of  water  seems 
to  have  given  rise  to  the  observance  of  a  popular  celebration  of  good  in 
everything. 

The  first  written  authority  for  this  custom  occurs  in  1527,  to  the 
effect  that  it  hath  been  the  custom  in  the  tithing  of  Motcombe,  Dorset, 
time  out  of  remembrance,  on  the  Sunday  after  Holycross  Day,  in  May, 
for  the  villagers  to  assemble  at  Enmore  Green,  at  one  o'clock,  and  with 
minstrels,  and  "  mirth  of  game,"  to  dance  till  two  o'clock  ;  "  the  Mayor 
of  Shaston  shall  see  the  Queen's  bailiff  have  a  penny-loaf,  a  gallon  of 
ale,  and  a  calf's-head,  with  a  pair  of  gloves,  to  see  the  order  of  the  dance 
that  day.  And  if  the  dance  fail  that  day,  and  the  Queen's  bailiff  have 
not  his  duty  [/>.,  the  calf  s  head,  &c.],  then  the  bailiff  and  his  men 
shall  stop  the  water  from  the  wells  of  Shaston  from  time  to  time." 

In  1662  the  time  of  observance  was  altered  from  the  Sunday  after 
Holyrood  Day  to  the  Monday  before  Holy  Thursday,  on  which  the 
teast  has  since  been  celebrated.  The  Mayor  of  Shaftesbury  then 
dresses  up  the  Besome  or  Byzant,  which  somewhat  resembles  a  palm- 
tree,  surmounted  by  a  gilded  crown,  and  the  arms  of  the  corporation 
and  town ;  of  which  the  former  are,  a  cross  between  two  fleurs-de-lys, 
and  as  many  leopards'  faces ;  those  of  the  town,  a  lion  rampant,  paw- 
ing a  tree  with  a  dove  upon  the  top  of  it.  The  branches  of  the  palm- 
tree  are  hung  with  peacocks'  feathers,  like  a  May-Day  garland ;  to 
which  are  added  gold  rings,  medals,  plate,  coin,  and  jewels,  often  to  the 
value  of  1500/.  or  2000/.,  principally  borrowed  from  the  neighbouring 


44^  Sherborne  A  hhcy. 

gentry.  This  device,  preceded  by  a  band  of  music,  is  carried  m  pro- 
cession by  the  sergeant-at-mace,  followed  by  a  man  and  woman  gaily 
and  fantastically  dressed,  and  who,  as  lord  and  lady,  dance  to  a  tabor 
and  pipe.  The  Byzant  is  then  presented  to  the  Steward  of  the  Manor, 
upon  Enmore  Green,  together  with  the  appurtenances  enjoined.  The 
former  he  immediately  restores— usually  with  a  donation  of  bread  and 
beer  for  the  populace ;  and  the  procession  then  returns  to  the  Town 
Hall. 


Sherborne  Abbey. 

Sherborne,  in  the  northern  division  of  the  county  of  Dorset,  is  of 
remote  antiquity.  The  place  was  of  considerable  importance  in  the 
time  of  the  Saxons,  who  called  it  Sciraburn,  or  Scireburn,  from  scir, 
clear,  and  burn,  a  spring.  Ina,  King  of  the  West  Saxons,  on  the  divi- 
sion of  the  diocese  of  Winchester,  then  the  sole  bishopric  of  the  West 
Saxons,  made  Sherborne  the  seat  of  an  episcopal  see,  a.d.  705.  One  of 
its  most  eminent  bishops  was  the  celebrated  Asscr,  who  was  tutor  to 
Alfred  the  Great,  and  who  wrote  that  King's  life.  The  see  of  Sher- 
borne was,  in  1075,  finally  removed  to  Old  Sarum.  A  Monastery  for 
secular  canons  was  established  here  after  the  conversion  of  the  West 
Saxons,  and  many  of  the  Saxon  monarchs  were  principal  benefactors.  In 
the  reign  of  Ethelred,  Bishop  Wulfsin  expelled  the  clerks,  and  placed 
monks  in  the  Monastery,  which  he  had  rebuilt.  By  bulls  from  dif- 
ferent Popes,  and  charters  from  the  Kings  and  nobility  of  England,  this 
Abbey  (rule  of  St.  Benedict)  rose  to  be  of  such  great  consideration, 
that  though  the  Abbots  did  not  sit  in  Parliament  yearly,  they  were 
esteemed  spiritual  barons,  and  had  particular  writs  to  parliaments  and 
great  councils.  In  the  Abbey  had  sepulture  Ethelbald,  King  of  Eng- 
land, 860;  his  brother  and  successor,  Ethelbert,  866;  and  Asscr, 
Bishop  of  Sherborne,  810. 

The  tenor-bell,  said  to  weigh  6o,ooolb.,  and  to  be  the  largest  tenor- 
bell  in  England  ever  rung  in  a  peal,  was  given  to  the  Abbey  by  Cardinal 
Wolscy:  it  was  imported  from  Tournay,  and  recast  in  1670,  and 
bears  this  distich : — 

"  By  Wolsey's  gift  I  measure  time  for  all ; 
'I  o  mirth,  to  gricfc,  to  church  I  scruc  to  call." 

In  1858,  the  Wolscy  lx.-ll  was  unfortunately  cracked  ;  but  in  i8f).-j 
it  was  recast  by  the  Warners,  of  Cripplcgate,  and  taken  back  to 
SbcrbomC' 


% 


Sherborne  Castle,  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.       449 

At  the  Dissolution,  the  church  was  made  parochial,  and  purchased 
by  the  inhabitants  and  the  vicar  for  loo  marks.  It  is  dedicated  to 
St.  Mary,  is  a  magnificent  cross  edifice,  and  from  its  enriched  architec- 
ture and  magnitude,  more  resembles  a  cathedral  than  a  parochial  church. 
It  is  of  different  dates.  The  south  porch  is  a  curious  specimen  of 
Norman.  The  largest  portion  is  good  Perpendicular,  and  was  partly 
erected  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  after  a  fire,  occasioned  through  a 
dispute  between  the  monks  and  the  townsmen,  and  which  originated  in 
removing  the  font.  Leland  tells  us,  the  latter  were  so  irritated  that  a 
Priest  of  Allhallows  shot  a  shaft  with  fire  into  the  top  of  the  church, 
that  divided  the  east  part  which  was  used  by  the  monks  from  that 
frequented  by  the  town.  This  partition,  happening  at  the  time  to  be 
thatched  in  the  roof,  was  soon  in  a  blaze,  and  nearly  the  whole  church 
was  consumed.  The  east  end  was  quickly  rebuilt.  The  height  of  the 
tower  is  1 54  feet.  The  groining  of  the  interior  is  rich  and  good,  at  the 
intersection  of  the  tracery-work  is  dight  with  shields  of  arms,  with 
roses  and  portcullises ;  and  among  the  devices  are  the  letters  H.E.,  con- 
nected with  a  lover's-knot,  said  to  be  the  initials  of  Henry  VII.  and  his 
Queen.  Attached  to  the  church  are  four  ancient  chapels.  In  the 
church  was  buried  Sir  Thomas  Wyat,  poet,  and  friend  of  the  accom- 
plished Earl  of  Surrey,  1541.  (See  Allington  Castle,  p.  259  of  the 
present  volume.)  On  the  north  side  were  the  cloisters  and  domestic 
buildings  of  the  Abbey,  and  a  small  portion  of  the  refectory  or  dining- 
hall  remained  to  our  days.  Here  are  also  some  parts  of  the  Abbot's 
lodgings;  the  Abbey  gateway,  barn,  and  mill ;  and  the  Abbey-house, 
erected  out  of  the  ruins  of  the  house  soon  after  the  Dissolution.  The 
Alms-house  on  the  south  side  was  originally  an  Hospital  of  St.  Angus- 
tine,  formed  temp.  Henry  VI.  It  has  a  chapel,  where  an  ancient  custom 
was  observed  till  our  time:  ever)'  Midsummer  night  a  garland  was  hung 
up  at  the  door,  in  honour  of  St.  John,  and  watched  by  the  almsmen 
until  next  morning. 

» 

Sherborne  Castle,  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh. 

There  was  an  ancient  Castle  at  Sherborne,  which  was  built  by  Roger, 
Bishop  of  Sarum,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  an!  ch?Tiged  hands  once  or 
twice  in  the  Civil  War  of  Stephen  and  the  Empress  Maud. 

There  is  an  old  story  well  known  in  Dcrsetshire  respecting  this 

Castle,  to  the  effect  that  Osmund,  one  of  '^Villiam  the  Conqueror's 

knights,  who  had  been  rewarded,  among  other  possessions,  with  the 

Castle  and  Barony  of  Sherborne,  in  the  decline  of  life  resigned  his 

*  GO 


450      Sherborne  Castle,  and  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 

temporal  honours,  and  resolved  to  dedicate  himself  to  religion.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  object,  he  obtained  the  Bishopric  of  Sarum,  and  gave 
thereto  Sherborne  with  certain  lands,  annexing  to  the  gift  the  following 
conditional  curse : — "  That  whosoever  should  take  those  lands  fi-om  the 
Bishopric,  or  diminish  them  in  great  or  small,  should  be  accursed,  not 
only  in  this  world  but  in  the  world  to  come,  unless  in  his  lifetime  he 
made  restitution  thereof."  Upon  his  death,  the  Castle  and  lands  were 
succeeded  to  by  the  next  Bishop,  Roger  Niger,  who  was  dispossessed  of 
them  by  King  Stephen.  After  Stephen  they  came  into  the  hands  of  the 
Montagues,  all  of  whom  it  is  pretended,  so  long  as  they  held,  were  sub- 
jected to  grievous  disasters,  insomuch  that  the  male  line  became  alto- 
gether extinct.  About  two  hundred  years  from  this  time,  the  lands 
again  reverted  to  the  Church ;  but  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  the 
Castle  of  Sherborne  was  conveyed  by  the  then  Bishop  of  Sarum  to 
the  Duke  of  Somerset,  who  lost  his  head  on  Tower-hill.  King  Ed- 
ward then  gave  the  lands  to  Sir  John  Horsley,  but  the  same  Bishop 
alleging  that  he  had  conveyed  them  to  the  Duke,  they  were  decreed 
again  to  the  Bishopric,  with  which  they  remained  until  the  time  of  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  who  not  having  the  fear  of  the  ancient  cui-se  before  his 
eyes,  obtained  them  from  the  Crown.  It  was  to  expiate  this  offence, 
we  are  to  suppose,  that  he  ultimately  lost  his  life.  In  allusion  to  this 
idle  superstition.  Sir  John  Harrington  tells  gravely  how  it  happened  one 
day  that  Sir  Walter,  riding  post  between  Plymouth  and  the  Court, 
"  the  Castle  being  right  in  the  way,  he  cast  such  an  eye  upon  it  as 
Ahab  did  upon  Naboth's  vineyard;  and  once  above  the  rest  being 
talking  of  it  (of  the  commodiousness  of  the  place,  and  of  the  great 
strength  of  the  seat,  and  how  easily  it  might  be  got  from  the  Bishopric), 
suddenly  over  and  over  came  his  horse,  tliat  his  very  face  (which  was 
then  thought  a  very  good  one)  ploughed  up  the  earth  where  he 
fell.  This  fall  was  ominous,  and  no  question  he  was  apt  to  con- 
sider it  so." 

After  Raleigh  had  married  Elizabeth  Throgmorton,  he  retired  to  his 
Castle  of  Sherborne,  which  had  belonged  to  the  see  of  Salisbury,  but 
a  grant  of  which  had  been  begged  and  obtained  from  the  Queen.  In 
the  first  instance,  it  had  been  his  design  to  repair  the  Castle,  but, 
changing  his  mind,  he  erected  "  a  most  fine  liousc,"  whicii  he  "  beau- 
tified with  orchanls,  gardens,  and  groves  of  much  delight,  so  that, 
whether  we  consider  the  pleasantness  of  the  seat,  the  goodness  of  the 
soil,  or  the  other  delicacies  belonging  to  it,  it  rests  unparalleled  in 
these  parts."  Raleigh  had  a  genius  for  ornamental  gardening.  During 
his  retirement   at  Sherborne,   Mr.  Tytler,  one  of  liis  biographere. 


Sherborne  Castle,  atid  Sir  Walter  Raleigh.      45  ^ 

suggests  that  in  the  gardens  and  groves  he  had  planted,  he  composed 
his  beautiful  poem  "  A  Description  of  the  Country's  Recreations." 

Sir  Walter,  it  will  be  remembered,  towards  the  close  of  Queen 
Elizabeth's  reign,  settled  his  Sherborne  estate  upon  his  son  Walter. 
His  enemies,  ill  at  ease  until  his  ruin  was  complete,  caused  the  deed  of 
conveyance  to  be  scrutinized,  and  it  was  then  referred  to  Sir  John 
Popham,  the  Chief  Justice,  who  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  deed, 
tvanting  a  single  word,  could  convey  nothing ;  yet  he  owned  that  the 
omission  was  clearly  the  fault  of  the  clerk  who  had  engrossed  the 
document.  Some  time  subsequently,  Robert  Carr,  afterwards  Earl  of 
Somerset,  a  young  Scotch  favourite  of  James,  took  an  opportunity  of 
calling  his  Majesty's  attention  to  the  flaw  in  Sir  Walter's  conveyance, 
and  solicited  Sherborne  of  his  royal  master — and  obtained  it !  The 
letter  of  Raleigh  to  Carr  was,  of  course,  of  no  avail.  Neither  was  the 
appeal  of  Lady  Raleigh  on  her  knees,  with  her  children,  to  James,  more 
efi'ectual.  He  only  answered  and  reiterated,  "  I  mun  have  the  land  ;  I 
mun  have  it  for  Carr."  Elizabeth  Raleigh  was  a  woman  of  high 
spirit.  There,  on  her  knees,  before  King  James,  she  prayed  to  God 
that  He  would  punish  those  who  had  thus  wrongfully  exposed  her  and 
her  children  to  ruin.  That  prayer  was  not  long  unanswered.  For  no 
length  of  time  did  Carr  enjoy  Sherborne.  Committed  to  the  Tower 
for  the  murder  of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury,  he  was  at  length  released  and 
restricted  to  his  house  in  the  country.  There,  in  constant  companion- 
ship with  the  wife,  for  the  guilty  love  of  whom  he  had  become  the 
murderer  of  his  friend,  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  life,  loathing  the 
partner  of  his  crimes,  and  by  her  as  cordially  detested.  King  James 
lost  his  pearl.  Prince  Henry,  in  1612,  while  Raleigh  was  yet  in  the 
Tower.  That  most  hopeful  Prince,  had  Heaven  permitted,  might  have 
averted  the  doom  which  fell  upon  his  brother  Charles,  who  had  played 
false  in  this  very  matter  of  Sherborne,  with  Raleigh's  son,  Carew 
Lady  Raleigh,  who  survived  her  husband  many  years,  lived  long  enough 
to  be  assured  of  that  misguided  King's  impending  fate. 

Raleigh  did  not  repair  the  Castle,  which  was  an  unpicturesqiie  pile, 
but  built  in  the  fine  pleasure  grounds  Sherborne  Lodge,  in  which 
he  resided ;  and  a  grove  which  he  planted  still  bears  his  name.  The 
Lodge  subsequently  became  the  residence  of  the  Earl  of  Digby,  and 
contains  some  interesting  portraits. 

The  remains  of  the  Castle  are  on  a  rocky  eminence  at  the  east  end 
of  the  town  of  Sherborne ;  the  whole  area  comprehends  four  acres, 
and  is  surrounded  by  a  deep  ditch,  on  the  inner  bank  of  which  t'^e 
foundations  and  fragments  of  the  Castle  walls  (six  or  seven  feet  thick^ 

G  G  2 


452  Lullworth  Castle. 

enclosing  the  greater  balHum,  or  court,  may  be  traced.  The  gate- 
tower  and  some  portion  of  the  buildings,  in  the  centre  of  the  ballium, 
remain.  The  whole  place, — the  Castle,  the  Lodge,  and  the  Park, — is, 
however,  fraught  with  reflections  upon  the  fate  of  one  whose  "  fortunes 
were  alike  remarkable  for  enviable  success  and  pitiable  reverses. 
Raised  to  eminent  station  through  the  favour  of  the  greatest  female 
Sovereign  of  England,  he  perished  on  the  scaffold  through  the  dislike 
and  cowardly  policy  of  the  meanest  of  her  Kings.  To  crown  all,  his 
fame  in  letters,  particularly  as  the  author  of  that  memorable  work  with 
which  '  his  prison  hours  enriched  the  world,'  placed  his  name  in  glorious 
association  with  those  of  Bacon  and  Hooker,  as  it  otherwise  was  with 
those  of  Essex  and  Vere,  of  Hawkins  and  Drake." — Mac-vey  Napier. 


Lullworth  Castle. 

On  an  eminence  in  the  south-east  corner  of  an  extensive  park  on  the 
beautifiil  coast  of  Dorset,  and  commanding  a  fine  view  of  the  sea 
through  an  opening  between  the  hills,  is  placed  the  Castle  of  Lullworth, 
not  of  any  great  antiquity,  but  supposed  to  be  on  or  near  the  site  of  a 
Castle  mentioned  as  far  back  as  the  year  1146.  The  materials  for 
building  it  were  brought  principally  from  the  ruins  of  Bindon  Abbey, 
not  far  distant.  The  foundation  was  laid  in  the  year  1588;  but  the 
building  was  not  completed  until  afier  164T,  when  it  was  purchased  by 
the  Weld  family.  . 

Lullworth  Castle  is  an  exact  cube  of  eighty  feet,  with  a  round  tower 
at  each  comer  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  and  rising  sixteen  feet  above  the 
walls  (six  feet  thick),  which,  as  well  as  the  towers,  are  embattled.  The 
principal  front  is  on  the  east,  and  faced  with  Chilmark  stone;  the 
landing-place  was  called  the  Cloisters,  because  paved  with  the  stones 
from  the  cloisters  of  Bindon  Abbey. 

At  a  short  distance  from  the  Castle  is  a  Chapel  for  Roman  Catholic 
worship,  built  by  Mr.  Weld,  subsequently  raiseil  to  the  rank  of  Car- 
dinal. This  structure  is  circular  in  plan,  increased  by  four  sections  of 
a  circle,  so  as  to  form  a  cross,  and  finished  with  a  dome  and  lantern. 
The  interior  is  sumptuously  decorated.  The  Castle  was  sometime 
tenanted  by  the  late  Sir  Robert  Peel ;  and  when  Charles  X.  of  France 
was  deposed  in  1830,  he  took  up  his  abode  at  Lullworth  Castle  through 
the  devotion  of  its  sympathizing  proprietor.  Neither  is  this  a  solitary 
instance  of  Mr,  Weld's  philanthropy,  since  he  long  accommodated 
tome  emigrant  monks  of  the  order  of  La  Trappe,  in  the  vicinity  of  the 


Corfe  Castle.  453 

site  of  BIndon  Abbey,  also  his  property.  A  visitor  to  this  colony  in 
1832,  describes  silence  as  the  rule  of  the  establishment  during  tlie 
twenty-four  hours,  the  exceptions  being  very  few ;  one  of  the  brethren 
it  is  said,  had  never  been  known  to  speak  for  about  thirty  years,  in 
accoi  dance  with  a  vow,  and  was  supposed  to  have  become  dumb. 
When  one  monk  met  another,  the  salutation  was  limited  to  "  Brother, 
we  must  die;"  and  lest  this  fact  should  not  be  kept  in  recollection,  a 
gi'ave  was  constantly  open  in  the  cemetery  at  hand,  the  digging  of  which 
was  a  source  of  bodily  exercise  and  recreation  to  the  brethren,  a  new 
grave  being  always  made  when  a  tenant  was  found  for  that  which 
already  gaped  to  receive  him.  The  order  of  La  Trappe  mcludes  no 
females  in  its  over-zealous  ordinances.  The  only  books  allowed  those 
who  could  read  were  Missals  and  the  Bible,  which  were  constantly  in 
their  hands.  In  case  of  sickness,  the  ordinary  management  of  the 
materia  med'ica  furnished  by  the  garden  rested  with  such  of  the  frater- 
nity as  were  gifted  in  the  healing  art.  These  monks  removed  to  the 
Continent  about  the  year  1833.  Lulhvorth  Castle  was  visited  by 
James  I.,  Charles  II.,  James  II.  (when  Duke  of  York),  George  III. 
and  his  Queen  Charlotte,  and  George  IV.  (when  Prince  of  Wales.) 


Corfe  Castle. 

This  famous  fortress,  the  strongest  in  the  kingdom,  and  situate  in  the 
Isle,  or  rather  peninsula,  of  Purbeck,  to  a  town  of  which  it  gives  name, 
is  a  very  ancient  foundation,  esteemed  of  great  strength  in  the  early 
Saxon  ages.     It  is  nearly  in  the  centre  of  the  Isle,  at  the  foot  of  a  range 
of  hills,  on  a  rising  ground,  declining  to  the  east.     Its  origin  must  un- 
doubtedly be  attributed  to  the  Castle,  which  existed  previous  to  the 
year  980 ;  though  the  town  itself  does  not  appear  to  have  attained  any , 
importance  till  after  the  Conquest,  as  it  was  wholly  unnoticed  in  the  1  , 
Domesday  Book.     The  Manor  and  Castle  seem  always  to  have  de-     \y' 
scended  together,  and  were  often  granted  to  princes  of  the  blood  and  * 
the  favourites  of  our  kings,  yet  as  often  reverted  to  the  Crown  by 
attainder  or  forfeiture.     In  the  reign  of  Richard  the  Second,  they  were  ^ 
held  by  Thomas  Holland,  Earl  of  Kent,  jointly  with  Alicia,  his  wife. 
In  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Fourth,  they  were  granted  to  the  Beauforts, 
Earls  of  Somerset ;  but  were  taken  from  that  family  by  Edward  the 
Fourth,  who  bestowed  them  on  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  and  next 
on  George,  Duke  of  Clarence;  on  the  attainder  of  the  latter  they  re- 
verted to  the  Crown.    Henry  the  Seventh  granted  them  to  his  mother. 


454  Corfe  Castle. 

the  Countess  of  Richmond,  for  life.  In  the  27th  year  of  Henr) 
the  Eighth,  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  passed,  by  which  they  were 
given  to  Henry,  Duke  of  Richmond,  his  natural  son.  After  his  death 
they  reverted  to  the  Crown,  and  were,  by  Edward  the  Sixth,  bestowed 
on  the  Duke  of  Somei-set ;  whose  zeal  for  the  Reformation  was  un- 
doubtedly invigorated  by  the  numerous  grants  of  abbey-lands  made  to 
him  after  the  Suppression  of  the  monasteries.  On  the  Duke's  attainder 
the  demesne-lands  of  the  Castle  were  leased  for  twenty-one  years,  on  a 
fee-farm  rent  of  7/.  13J.  ^d.  In  the  14th  year  of  Elizabeth,  the  Castleand 
Manor,  with  the  whole  IsleofPurbeck,  were  granted  to  Sir  Christopher 
Hatton,  whose  heirs  continued  possessors  till  the  commencement  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  when  the  Manor  and  Castle  were  given  by  Sir 
"William  Hatton,  to  his  lady,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas,  Earl  of 
Exeter,  and  afterwards  second  wife  to  Lord  Chief  Justice  Coke,  who 
sold  them,  in  the  year  1635,  to  Sir  John  Bankes,  Attorney-General  to 
Charles  the  First,  and  afterwards  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the  King's 
Bench,  in  whose  family  the  property  remains. 

Corfe  Castle  stands  a  little  north  of  the  town,  opposite  to  the 
church,  on  a  very  steep  rocky  hill,  mingled  with  hard  rubble  chalk 
stone,  in  the  opening  of  those  ranges  of  hills  that  inclose  the  east  part 
of  the  Isle.  Its  situation  between  the  ends  of  those  hills  deprives  it  of 
much  of  its  natural  and  artificial  strength,  being  so  commanded  by  them 
that  they  overlook  the  tops  of  the  highest  towers ;  yet  its  structure  is 
so  strong,  the  ascent  of  the  hill  on  all  sides  but  the  south  so  steep,  and 
the  walls  so  massive  and  thick,  that  it  must  have  been  one  of  the  most 
impregnable  fortresses  in  the  kingdom  before  the  invention  of  artillery. 
It  was  of  great  importance  in  respect  to  its  command  over  the  whole 
Isle  :  whence  our  Saxon  ancestors  justly  styled  it  Corf  Gate,  as  being 
the  pass  and  avenue  into  the  best  part  of  tlie  Isle. 

The  fortress  is  separated  from  the  town  by  a  strong  bridge  of  four 
very  high,  narrow,  semicircular  arches,  crossing  a  moat  of  considerable 
depth,  but  now  dry.  This  bridge  leads  to  the  gate  of  the  first  ward, 
which  remains  pretty  entire,  probably  from  the  thickness  of  the  walls, 
which,  from  the  outward  to  the  inner  facing,  is  full  nine  yards.  The 
ruins  of  the  entrance  to  tlie  second  ward,  ami  of  the  tower  near  it,  are 
very  remarkable.  "  The  latter  (which  once  adjoined  to  tiie  gate)  was 
separated  with  a  part  of  the  arcli  at  the  time  of  the  demolition  of  the 
Castle,  and  is  moved  down  the  precipice,  preserving  its  perpendicularity, 
and  projecting  almost  five  feet  below  the  corrosjionding  part.  Anothei 
of  the  towers  on  the  same  side  is,  on  the  contrary,  inclined  so  much 
tliat  a  bpcctatur  will  trLmblu  when  passing  under  it.    The  singular 


Corfe  Castle,  455 

position  of  these  towers  seems  to  have  been  occasioned  through  the 
foundations  being  undermined  (for  blowing  them  up)  in  an  incomplete 
manner.  On  the  higher  part  of  the  hill  stands  the  Keep,  or  citadel, 
which  is  at  some  distance  from  the  centre  of  the  fortress,  and  commands 
a  view  of  considerable  extent  to  the  north  and  west.  It  has  not  hitherto 
suffered  much  diminution  from  its  original  height ;  the  fury  of  the 
winds  being  resisted  less  by  the  thickness  of  the  walls  than  by  the 
strength  of  the  cement.  The  upper  windows  have  Saxon  arches,  but 
are  apparently  of  a  later  date  than  any  other  part  of  the  building  west 
of  the  Keep,  the  stones  of  which  being  placed  herring-bone  fashion  prove 
it  to  be  of  the  earliest  style.  The  chapel  is  of  a  very  late  date,  as  ap- 
pears from  its  obtuse  Gothic  arches ;  and,  writes  Dr.  Maton,  I  have 
really  an  idea  that  almost  all  the  changes  of  architecture,  from  the  reign 
of  Edgar  to  that  of  Henry  the  Seventh,  may  be  traced  in  this  extensive 
and  stupendous  ruin. 

"  We  could  not  view  without  horror  the  dungeons  which  remain  in  ''- 
some  of  the  towers :  they  recalled  to  our  memory  the  truly  diabolical 
cruelty  of  King  John,  by  whose  order  twenty-two  prisoners,  confined 
in  them,  were  starved  to  death.  Matthew  of  Paris,  the  historian,  says, 
thatmany  of  those  unfortunate  men  were  among  the  first  of  the  Poitevin 
nobility.  Another  instance  of  John's  barbarous  disposition  was  his 
treatment  of  Peter  of  Pontefract,  a  poor  hermit,  who  was  imprisoned 
in  Corfe  Castle  for  prophesying  the  deposition  of  that  prince.  Though 
the  prophecy  was  in  some  measure  fulfilled  by  the  surrender  which 
John  made  of  his  crown  to  the  Pope's  Legate,  the  year  following,  yet 
the  imprudent  prophet  was  sentenced  to  be  dragged  through  the  streets 
of  Wareham,  tied  to  horses'  tails."* 

The  exact  period  when  this  fortress  was  erected  is  unknown, 
though  some  circumstances  render  it  probable  that  it  was  built  by  King  -^ 
Edgar.  That  it  did  not  exist  previously  to  the  year  887,  or  888,  the 
time  when  the  Nunnery  at  Shaftesbury  was  founded,  is  certain, 
from  an  inquisition  taken  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  Henry  the  Third ; 
wherein  the  jurors  returned,  "  that  the  Abbess  and  Nuns  at  Shaston 
(Shaftesbury)  had,  without  molestation,  before  the  foundation  of  the 
Castle  at  Corfe,  all  wrecks  within  their  Manor  of  Kingston,  in  the  Isle  "^ 
of  Purbeck."  Aubrey,  in  his  Monument  a  Britannica,  observes,  he  was 
informed,  that  "mention  was  made  of  Corfe  Castle  in  the  reign  of  King 
Alfred;  yet  it  seems  very  improbable  that  this  should  be  the  fact; 


•  Dr.  Maton's  Observations,  vol.  i.  p.  la. 


45  6  Ccrfe  Castle 

for  if  it  had  actually  existed  in  the  time  of  that  monarch,  it  would  surely 
have  been  more  publicly  known.  The  short  reigns  that  succeeded 
would  not  allow  time  for  so  extensive  an  undertaking  ;  but  Edgar  en- 
joyed more  peace  than  almost  any  of  his  predecessors,  was  superior  in 
wealth  and  power,  and  a  great  builder ;  he  having  founded,  or  repaired, 
no  fewer  than  forty-seven  monasteries."  To  him,  then,  the  origin  of 
this  Castle  may  with  the  greatest  probability  be  ascribed,  as  his  second 
wife,  Elfrida,  resided  here  at  the  commencement  of  her  widowhood. 
During  this  residence  is  said  to  have  been  committed  the  foul  murder 
on   King   Edward,  Edgar's  son  and  successor,  of  which  William  of 

t^  Malmeshury  relates  the  ensuing  particulars. 
I       "  King  Edward  being  hunting  in  a  forest  neare  the  sea,  upon  the 

^south-east  coast  of  the  countie  of  Dorset,  and  in  the  Isle  of  Purbecke, 
came  neare  unto  a  fair  and  stronge  castell,  seated  on  a  little  river 
called  Corfe,  wherein  his  mother-in-law,  Elfrida,  with  her  sonne, 
Ethelred,  then  lived :  the  King,  ever  beaieing  a  kinde  affection  to  them, 
beeing  soe  neare,  would  needs  make  knowne  soe  much  by  his  personnall 
visitation  ;  which  haveing  resolved,  and  beeing  either  of  purpose  or  by 
chance,  singled  fiom  his  followers,  hee  rode  to  the  Castell  gate.  The 
Queene,  who  long  had  looked  for  an  opportunitie,  that,  by  makeing 
him  awaye,  shee  might  make  waye  for  her  own  sonne  to  the  Crowne, 
was  glad  the  occasion  nowe  offered  itselfe ;  and  therefore,  with  a 
modest  and  humble  behaviour,  she  bade  him  welcome,  desiringe  to  en- 
joye  his  presence  that  night.  But  hee,  haveing  performed  what  hee 
purposed,  and  doubting  his  companie  might  find  him  misseing,  told  her 
that  he  now  intended  on  horseback  to  drink  to  her  and  his  broth  r  in  a 
cuppe  of  wine,  and  soe  leave  her;  which  beeing  presented  unto  him, 
the  cuppe  was  no  sooner  at  his  mouth,  but  a  knife  was  at  h's  back, 
which  a  servant,  appointed  by  this  treacherous  woman,  strokr;  into  him. 
The  Kinge,  finding  himselfe  hurt,  sett  spure  to  his  horse,  thinking  to 
recover  his  companie;  but  the  wounde  beeing  decpe,  and  fainting 
through  the  losse  of  much  blood,  he  felle  from  his  horse,  which  dragged 
him  by  one  foot  hanging  in  the  stirrop,  until!  he  was  left  dead  at 

JHorfe  Gate,  Anno  Dom.  979." 

Thus  far  Maimesbury :  Hutchins,  in  his  History  of  Dorset,  relates 
the  circumstances  of  this  event  in  the  following  words  : — '*  Tlie  first 
mention  of  this  Castle  in  our  histories,  is  a.d.  978,  in  the  Saxon  Annals 
(though  some  of  our  historians  say  979  and  981),  upon  occasion  of  the 
barbarous  murder  of  Edward,  King  of  the  West  Saxons,  son  of  King 
Edgar,  committed  here  by  his  mother-in-law,  Elfrith,  or  Elfrida, 
15  cal.  April,  in   the  middle  of  Lent :  the  foulest  deed,  says  the 


Corfe  Castle. 


457 


Saxon  annalist,  ever  committed  by  the  Saxons  smce  they  landed  in 
Britain.  He  was  in  life  an  earthly  King ;  he  is  now,  after  death,  a 
heavenly  saint." 

This  tragical  scene  is  thus  recorded  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle : 
"  A.  979.  This  year  was  King  Edward  slain,  at  eventide,  at  Corfe 
Gate,  on  the  15th  before  the  Kalends  of  April,  and  then  was  buried  at 
Wareham,  without  any  kind  of  kingly  honours. 


There  has  not  been  'mid  Angles, 

a  worse  deed  done 

than  this  was, 

since  they  first 

Britain-land  sought. 

Men  him  murdered, 

but  God  him  glorified. 

He  was  in  life 

an  earthly  king; 

he  is  now  after  death 

a  heavenly  saint. 

Him  would  not  his  earthly 

kinsmen  avenge, 

but  him  hath  his  heavenly  Father 

greatly  avenged. 

The  earthly  murderers 

would  his  memory 


on  earth  blot  out, 

but  the  lofty  Avenger 

hath  his  memory 

in  the  heavens 

and  on  earth  wide  spread. 

They  who  would  not  erewhile 

to  his  living 

body  bow  down, 

they  now  humbly 

on  knees  bend 

to  his  dead  bones. 

Now  we  may  understand 

That  men's  wisdom 

and  their  devices, 

and  their  counsels, 

are  like  nought 

'gainst  God's  resolves." 


"A.  980.  In  this  year  St.  Dunstan  and  Alfere  the  ealdorman 
fetched  the  holy  King's  body,  St.  Edward's,  from  Wareham,  and  bore 
it  with  much  solemnity  to  Shaftesbury." 

Amid  the  conflicting  accounts  of  this  event,  it  has  been  remarked 
that  the  Chronicle  simply  says  that  Edward  was  killed  at  eventide  atu 
Corfe  Gate — not  at  Castle  Gate,  but  a  cleft  or  gap  in  the  hills,  high  above ' 
where  Corfe  Castle  now  stands.     The  romantic  story  is  thought  to 
have  arisen  from  misreading  the  word  geate.    There  was,  probably,  no 
castle  there  at  the  time. 

In  the  reign  of  Kinj?  Stephen,  the  Castle  was  seized  by  Baldwin  de_^ 
Rivers,  Earl  of  Devon  and  though  the  King  afterwards  endeavoured 
to  dispossess  him,  his  efforts  were  ineffectual.  King  John  appears  to 
have  made  it  for  some  time  his  place  of  residence,  as  several  writs, 
issued  by  him  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  years  of  his  reign,  are  dated 
at  Corfe.  On  the  coronation  of  Henry  the  Third,  Peter  de  Mauley,  the 
Governor  of  the  Castle,  was  summoned  to  attend  the  ceremony,  and  to 
bring  with  him  the  regalia  "  then  in  his  custody  in  this  Castle,  where- 
with he  had  been  entrusted  by  John."  The  following  year  he  de- 
livered up  the  Castle  to  the  King,  with  all  the  military  engines,  ammu- 
nition, and  jewels  committed  to  his  charge.     Edward  the  Second  was 


-f 


453  Co7'fe  Castle. 

removed  hither  from  Kenilworth  Castle,  when  a  prisoner,  by  order 
of  the  Queen,  and  her  favourite  Mortimer.  Henry  the  Seventh 
repaired  the  Castle  for  the  residence  of  his  mother,  the  Countess  of 
Richmond,  the  Parliament  having  granted  2000/.  for  that  purpose  ; 
yet  it  does  not  appear  that  it  was  ever  inhabited  by  this  Princess. 
It  was  again  repaired  by  Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  and  most  pro- 
bably by  Sir  John  Banks,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas  in 
the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  whose  lady  became  illustrious  from  the 
gallant  manner  in  which  she  defended  the  fortress  from  the  attacks 
of  the  Parliamentary  forces  in  1643.  As  Lady  Banks's  defence  of 
the  castle  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  episodes  of  the  Civil  War,  we 
are  fortunate  in  having  the  following  contemporaneous  narrative  of 
it,  as  given  in  the  Merctiriiis  Riisiicus  of  1646.  It  will  at  once  be 
seen  that  the  writer  was  a  staunch  royalist : — 

"  After  the  unhappy  differences  between  the  King  and  the  two 
Houses,  or  rather  between  the  King  and  the  faction  in  both 
Houses,  grew  high,  it  being  generally  feared  that  swords  would 
decide  the  controversy,  the  Lady  Banks  resolved,  with  her  children 
and  family,  to  retire  to  this  castle,  there  to  shelter  themselves  from 
the  storm  which  she  saw  coming,  which  accordingly  she  did. 
There  they  remained  in  peace  all  the  winter  and  a  great  part  of  the 
spring,  until  1643,  about  which  time  the  rebels,  under  the  command 
of  Sir  Walter  Erie,  Sir  Thomas  Trenchard,  and  others,  had  pos- 
sessed themselves  of  Dorchester,  Lyme,  Melcombe,  Weymouth, 
Wareham,  and  Poole  (Portland  Castle  being  treacherously  delivered 
to  the  rebels,)  only  Corfe  Castle  remaining  in  obedience  to  the 
King.  But  the  rebels,  knowing  how  much  it  concerned  them  to 
add  this  castle  to  their  other  garrisons,  to  make  all  the  sea  coast 
wholly  for  them,  and  thinking  it  more  feasible  to  gain  it  by  treachery 
than  open  hostility,  resolved  to  lay  hold  on  an  opportunity  to  sec  if 
they  could  become  masters  of  it. 

"  There  is  an  ancient  usage  that  the  major  and  barons,  as  they 
call  them,  of  Corfe  Castle,  accompanied  by  the  gentry  of  the  island, 
have  permission  from  the  lord  of  the  castle,  on  May-day,  to  course 
a  stag,  which  every  year  is  performed  with  much  solemnity  and 
great  concourse  of  people.  On  this  day  some  troops  of  horse  from 
Dorchester,  and  other  places,  came  into  this  island,  intending  to 
find  other  game  than  to  hunt  the  stag,  their  business  being  suddenly 
to  surprise  the  gentlemen  in  the  hunting,  and  to  take  the  castle. 
The  news  of  their  coming  dispersed  the  hunters,  and  spoiled  the 
»port  for  that  day,  and  made  the  Lady  Banks  to  give  order  for  the 


Corfe  Castle.  459 

safe  custody  of  the  castle  gates,  and  to  keep  them  shut  against  all 
comers.  The  troopers  having  missed  their  prey  on  the  hills  (the 
gentlemen  having  withdrawn  themselves),  some  of  them  came  to 
the  castle  under  a  pretence  to  see  it,  but  entrance  being  denied 
them,  the  common  soldiers  used  threatening  language,  casting  out 
words  implying  some  intention  to  take  the  castle ;  but  the  com- 
manders, who  better  knew  how  to  conceal  their  resolutions,  utterly 
disavowed  any  such  thought,  denying  that  they  had  any  such  commis- 
sion ;  however,  tne  Lady  Banks  very  wisely,  and  like  herself,  hence 
took  occasion  to  call  in  a  guard  to  assist  her,  not  knowing  how  soon 
she  might  have  occasion  to  make  use  of  them,  it  being  now  more 
than  probable  that  the  rebels  had  a  design  upon  the  castle.  The 
taking  in  this  guard,  as  it  secured  her  at  home,  so  it  rendered  her 
suspected  abroad ;  from  thenceforward  there  was  a  watchful  ant 
vigilant  eye  to  survey  all  her  actions ;  whatsoever  she  sends  out,  or 
sends  for  in,  is  suspected  ;  her  ordinary  provisions  for  her  family 
are  by  fame  multiplied,  and  reported  to  be  more  than  double  what 
ndeed  they  were,  as  if  she  had  now  an  intention  to  victual  and  man 
the  castle  against  the  forces  of  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament 
Presently,  letters  are  sent  from  the  committees  of  Poole  to  demand 
the  four  small  pieces  in  the  castle,  and  the  pretence  was  because 
the  islanders  conceived  strange  jealousies  that  the  pieces  were 
mounted  and  put  on  their  carriages. 

"  Hereupon  the  Lady  Banks  dispatched  messengers  to  Dorchester 
and  Poole,  to  entreat  the  commissioners  that  the  small  pieces  might 
remain  in  the  castle  for  her  own  defence ;  and  to  take  away  the 
ground  of  the  islanders'  jealousies,  she  caused  the  pieces  to  be  taken 
off  their  carriages  again  ;  hereupon  a  promise  made,  that  they 
should  be  left  to  her  possession.  But  there  passed  not  many  days, 
before  forty  seamen  (they  in  the  castle  not  suspecting  any  such 
thing)  came  very  early  in  the  morning  to  demand  the  pieces  :  the 
lady  in  person,  early  as  it  was,  goes  to  the  gates,  and  desires  to  see 
their  warrant ;  they  produced  one,  under  the  hands  of  some  of  the 
commissioners ;  but  instead  of  delivering  them,  though  at  that  time 
there  were  but  five  men  in  the  castle,  yet  these  five,  assisted  by  the 
maid-servants,  at  their  lady's  command,  mount  these  pieces  on 
their  carriages  again,  and  lading  one  of  them,  they  gave  fire,  which 
small  thunder  so  affrighted  the  seamen,  that  they  all  quitted  the 
place  and  ran  away. 

"  They  being  gone,  by  beat  of  drum  she  summons  help  into  the 
castle,  and  upon  the  alarm  given,  a  very  considerable  guard  o£ 


460  Corfe  Castle. 

tenants  and  friends  came  in  to  her  assistance,  there  being  withal 
some  fifty  arms  brought  into  the  castle  from  several  parts  of  the 
island.  This  guard  was  kept  in  the  castle  about  a  week  :  during 
this  time,  many  threatening  letters  were  sent  unto  the  lady,  telling 
her  what  great  forces  should  be  sent  to  fetch  them,  if  she  would  not 
by  fair  means  be  persuaded  to  deliver  them ;  and  to  deprive  her  of 
auxiliaries,  all  or  most  of  them  being  neighbours  thereabouts,  they 
threaten,  that  if  they  oppose  the  dehvery  of  them,  they  would  fire 
their  houses.  Presently  their  wives  come  to  the  castle  ;  there  they 
weep  and  wring  their  hands,  and  with  clamorous  oratory  persuade 
their  husbands  to  come  home,  and  not  by  saving  others  to  expose 
their  own  houses  to  spoil  and  ruin ;  nay,  to  reduce  the  castle  into  a 
distressed  condition,  they  did  not  only  intercept  two  hundredweight 
of  powder  provided  against  a  siege,  but  they  interdict  them  the 
liberty  of  common  markets.  Proclamation  is  made  at  Wareham 
(a  market-town  hard  by),  that  no  beer,  beef,  or  other  provision 
should  be  sold  to  the  Lady  Banks,  or  for  her  use  ;  strict  watches 
are  kept,  that  no  messenger  or  intelligence  shall  pass  into,  or 
out  of,  the  castle.  Being  thus  distressed,  all  means  of  victualling 
the  castle  being  taken  away,  and  being  but  slenderly  furnished  for 
a  siege,  either  with  ammunition  or  with  victual,  at  last  they  came  to 
a  treaty  of  composition,  of  which  the  result  was,  that  the  Lady 
Banks  should  deliver  up  those  four  small  pieces,  the  biggest  not 
carrying  above  a  three  pound  bullet,  and  that  the  rebels  should 
permit  her  to  enjoy  the  castle  and  arms  in  it,  in  peace  and 
quietness. 

"  And  though  this  wise  lady  knew  too  well  to  rest  satisfied  or 
secured  in  these  promises,  their  often  breach  of  faith  having  suffi- 
ciently instructed  her  what  she  might  expect  from  them,  yet  she 
was  glad  of  this  opportunity  to  strengthen  herself  by  that  means, 
by  which  many  in  the  world  thought  she  had  done  herself  much 
prejudice ;  for  the  rebels  being  now  possessed  of  their  g.ms,  pre- 
sumed the  castle  to  be  theirs,  as  sure  as  if  they  had  actually  pos- 
sessed it.  Now  it  was  no  more  but  ask  and  have.  Hereupon  they 
grew  remiss  in  their  watches,  negligent  in  their  observations,  not 
heeding  what  was  brought  in,  nor  taking  care,  as  before,  to  inter- 
cept supplies,  which  might  enable  them  to  hold  out  against  a  siege  : 
and  the  lady,  making  good  use  of  this  remissness,  laid  hold  on  the 
present  opportunity,  and,  as  much  as  the  time  would  permit,  fur- 
nished the  castle  with  provisions  of  all  sorts.  In  this  interval,  there 
was  brought  in  an  hundred  and  half  of  powder,  and  a  quantity  of 


Ccrfe  Castle.  46 1 

match  proportionable ;  and  understanding  that  the  King's  forces, 
under  the  conduct  of  Prince  Maurice  and  the  Marquess  Hertford, 
were  advancing  towards  Blandford,  she,  by  her  messenger,  made 
her  address  to  them,  to  signify  unto  them  the  present  condition  in 
which  they  were,  the  great  consequence  of  the  place,  desiring  their 
assistance,  and  in  particular,  that  they  would  be  pleased  to  take 
into  their  serious  consideration,  to  send  some  commanders  thither 
to  take  the  charge  of  the  castle.  Hereupon  they  sent  Captain 
Lawrence,  son  of  Sir  Edward  Lawrence,  a  gentleman  of  that  island, 
to  command  in  chief;  but  he  coming  without  a  commission,  could 
not  command  monies  or  provisions  to  be  brought  in  till  it  was  too 
late.  There  was  likewise  in  the  castle  one  Captain  Bond,  an  old 
soldier,  whom  I  should  deprive  of  his  due  honour  not  to  mention 
him,  having  a  share  in  the  honour  of  this  resistance.  The  first  time 
the  rebels  faced  the  castle,  they  brought  a  body  of  between  two  and 
three  hundred  horse  and  foot,  and  two  pieces  of  ordnance,  and  from 
the  hills  played  on  the  castle,  fired  four  houses  in  the  town,  and 
then  summoned  the  castle ;  but  receiving  a  denial  for  that  time, 
they  left  it,  but  on  the  three-and-twentieth  of  June,  the  sagacious 
knight,  Sir  Walter  Earle,  that  hath  the  gift  of  discerning  treasons, 
and  might  have  made  up  his  nine-and-thirty  treasons,  forty,  by 
reckoning  in  his  own,  accompanied  by  Captain  Sydenham,  Captain 
Henry  Jarvis,  Captain  Skuts,  son  of  arch-traitor  Skuts,  of  Poole, 
with  a  body  of  between  five  and  six  hundred,  came  and  possessed 
themselves  of  the  town,  taking  the  opportunity  of  a  misty  morning, 
that  they  might  find  no  resistance  from  the  castle.  They  brought 
with  them  to  the  siege  a  demi-cannon,  a  culverin,  and  two  sacres  ; 
with  these,  and  their  small  shot,  they  played  on  the  castle  on  all 
quarters  of  it,  with  good  observation  of  advantages,  making  their 
battery  strongest  where  they  thought  the  castle  weakest ;  and  to 
bind  the  soldiers  by  tie  of  conscience  to  an  eager  prosecution  of  the 
siege,  they  administer  them  an  oath,  and  mutually  bind  themselves 
to  most  unchristian  resolutions,  that  if  they  found  the  defendants 
hesitate  not  to  yield,  they  would  maintain  the  siege  to  victory,  and 
then  deny  quarter  unto  all,  killing  without  mercy,  men,  women,  and 
children.  As  to  bring  on  their  own  soldiers,  they  abused  them 
with  falsehoods,  telling  them,  that  the  castle  stood  in  a  level,  yet 
with  good  advantages  of  approach  ;  that  there  were  but  forty  men 
m  the  castle,  whereof  twenty  were  for  them ;  that  there  was  rich 
booty,  and  the  like ;  so,  during  the  siege,  they  used  all  base,  un- 
worthy means,  to  corrupt  the  defendants  to  betray  the  castle  into 


462  Corfe  Castle. 

their  hands  :  the  better  sort  they  endeavoured  to  corrupt  with 
bribes  ;  to  the  rest  they  offer  double  pay,  and  the  whole  plunder  of 
the  castle.  When  all  these  arts  took  no  effect,  then  they  fall  to 
stratagem  and  engines.  To  make  their  approaches  to  the  wall  with 
more  safety,  they  make  two  engines ;  one  they  call  the  sow,  the 
other  the  boar,  being  made  with  boards,  lined  with  wool  to  dead  the 
shot.  The  first  that  moved  forward  was  the  sow ;  but  not  being 
musket  proof,  she  cast  nin  i  of  eleven  of  her  farrows  ;  for  the  mus- 
ketiers  from  the  castle  were  so  good  marksmen  at  their  legs,  the 
only  part  of  all  their  bodies  left  without  defence,  that  nine  ran  away, 
as  well  as  their  battered  and  broken  legs  would  give  them  leave  ; 
and  of  the  two  which  knew  neither  how  to  run  away,  nor  well  to 
stay,  for  fear,  one  was  slain.  The  boar,  of  the  two  (a  man  would 
think)  the  valianter  creature,  seeing  the  ill  success  of  the  sow  to  cast 
her  litter  before  her  time,  durst  not  advance.  The  most  advan- 
tageous part  for  their  batteries  was  the  church,  which  they,  without 
fear  of  profanation,  used,  not  only  as  their  rampart,  but  their  ren- 
dezvous :  of  the  surplice  they  made  two  shirts  for  two  soldiers ;  they 
broke  down  the  organs,  and  made  the  pipes  serve  for  cases  to  hold 
their  powder  and  shot ;  and  not  being  furnished  with  musket 
bullets,  they  cut  off  the  lead  of  the  church,  and  rolled  it  up,  and 
shot  it  without  ever  casting  it  in  a  mould.  Sir  Walter  and  the 
commander  were  earnest  to  press  forward  the  soldiers  ;  but  as  pro- 
digal as  they  were  of  the  blood  of  their  common  soldiers,  they  were 
sparing  enough  of  their  own.  It  was  a  general  obscr\ation,  that 
y  valiant  Sir  Walter  never  willingly  exposed  himself  to  any  hazard, 
for  being  by  chance  eQdan^red  with  a  bullet,  shot  through  his  coat, 
afterwards  he  put  on  a  bear's  skin ;  and  to  the  eternal  honour  of 
this  kmgfiit's  valour  be  it  recorded,  for  fear  of  musket  shot  (for  other 
I  they  had  none),  he  was  seen  to  creep  on  all  four,  on  the  sides  of  the 
I  hill,  to  keep  himself  out  of  danger.  This  base  cowardice  in  the 
assailant  added  courage  and  resolution  to  the  defendants ;  therefore 
not  compelled  by  want,  but  rather  to  brave  the  rebels,  they  sallied 
•  out,  and  brought  in  eiglit  cows  and  a  bull  into  the  castle,  without 
the  loss  of  a  man,  or  a  man  wounded.  At  anotlier  time,  five  boys 
fetched  in  four  cows.  They  that  stood  on  the  hills,  called  to  one  in 
a  house  in  the  valley,  crying,  "  Shoot,  Anthony ;"  but  Anthony 
thought  it  good  to  sleep  in  a  whole  skin,  and  durst  not  look  out,  si 
that  afterwards  it  grew  into  a  proverbial  jeer,  from  the  defendant! 
to  the  assailants,  "  Shoot,  Anthony."  The  rebels  having  spent  much 
time  and  ammunition,  and  some  men,  and  yet  being  as  fur  from 


Corfe  Castle.  463 

hopes  of  taking  the  castle  as  the  first  day  they  came  thither;  at 
last,  the  Earl  of  Warwick  sends  them  a  supply  of  an  hundred  and 
fifty  mariners,  with  several  cart-loads  of  petars,  granadoes,  and     ( 
other  warlike  provision,  with  scaling  ladders,  to  assault  the  castle   ■ 
by  scaladoe.     They  make  large  offers  to  him  that  should  first  scale  |  , 
the  wall ;  twenty  pounds  to  the  first,  and  so,  by  descending  sums,     ' 
a  reward  to  the  twentieth  ;  but  all  this  could  not  prevail  with  these  I 
silly  wretches,  who  were  brought  thither,  as  themselves  confessed,  I 
like  sheep  to  the  slaughter,  some  of  them  having  but  exchanged  the  ) 
manner  of  their  death,  the  halter  for  the  bullet ;  having  taken  them 
out  of  gaols.     One  of  them  being  taken  prisoner,  had  letters  testi- 
monial in  his  hand  whence  he  came  ;  the  letters,  I  mean,  when  he 
was  burnt  for  a  felon,  being  very  visible  to  the  beholders  ;  but  they 
found  that  persuasion   could   not  prevail  with   such  abject  low- 
spirited  men.     The  commanders  resolve  on  another  course,  which 
was  to  make  them  drunk,  knowing  that  drunkenness  makes  some 
men  fight  like  lions,  that  being  sober,  would  run  away  like  hares. 
To  this  purpose  they  fill  them  with  strong  waters,  even  to  madness, . 
and  ready  they  are  now  for  any  design  :  and  for  fear  Sir  Walter 
should  be  valiant  against  his  will,  like  Caesar  he  was  the  only  man  j 
almost  that  came  sober  to  the  assault :  an  imitation  of  the  Turkish 
practice  ;  for  certainly  there  can  be  nothing  of  Christianity  in  it,  to 
send  poor  souls  to  God's  judgment  seat,  in  the  very  act  of  two   f 
grievous  sins,  rebellion  and  drunkenness  ;    who  to   stupify  their   I 
soldiers,  and  make  them  insensible  of  their  dangers,  give  them    1 
opium.     Being  now  armed  with  drink,  they  resolve  to  storm  the    ' 
castle  on  all  sides,  and  apply  their  scaling-ladders,  it  being  ordered 
by  the  leaders  (if  I  may  without  solecism  call  them  so,  that  stood 
behind,  and  did  not  so  much  as  follow),  that  when  twenty  were 
entered,  they  should  give  a  watchword  to  the  rest,  and  that  was 
Old  Wat,  a  word  ill  chosen  by  Sir  Watt  Earle ;  and,  considering 
the  business  in  hand,  little  better  than  ominous  ;  for  if  I  be  not  de- 
ceived, the  hunters  that  beat  bushes  for  the  fearful,  timorous  hare, 
call  him  Old  Watt.     Being  now  pot-valiant,  and  possessed  with  a  I  ^ 
borrowed  courage,  which  was  to  evaporate  in  sleep,  they  divide 
forces  into  two  parties,  whereof  one  assaults  the  middle  ward,  de- 
fended by  valiant  Captain  Lawrence,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
soldiers  :  the  other  assault  the  upper  ward,  which  the  Lady  Banks 
(to  her  eternal  honour  be  it  spoken),  with  her  daughters,  women, 
and  five  soldiers,  undertook  to  make  good  against  the  rebels,  and 


464  Corfe  Castle. 

did  bravely  perform  what  she  undertook ;  for  by  heaving  over 
stones,  and  hot  embers,  they  repelled  the  rebels,  and  kept  them 
from  climbing  their  ladders,  thence  to  throw  in  that  wild-fire,  which 
every  rebel  had  ready  in  his  hand.  Being  repelled,  and  having  in 
this  siege  and  this  assault  lost  and  hurt  an  hundred  men,  old  Sir 
Watt,  hearing  that  the  King's  forces  were  advanced,  cried,  and  ran 
away  crying,  leaving  Sydenham  to  command  in  chief,  to  bring  off 
the  ordnance,  ammunition,  and  the  remainder  of  the  army,  who, 
afraid  to  appear  abroad,  kept  sanctuary  in  the  church  till  night, 
meaning  to  sup,  and  run  away  by  star-light :  but  supper  being 
ready,  and  set  on  the  table,  alarm  was  given  that  the  King's  forces 
were  coming.  This  news  took  away  Sydenham's  stomach ;  all  this 
provision  was  but  messes  of  meat  set  before  the  sepulchres  of  the 
dead.  He  leaves  his  artillery,  ammunition,  and  (which  with  these 
men  is  something)  a  good  supper,  and  ran  away  to  take  boat  for 
Poole,  leaving  likewise  at  the  shore  about  an  hundred  horse  to  the 
next  takers,  which  next  day  proved  good  prize  to  the  soldiers  of  the 
castle.  Thus,  after  six  weeks  strict  siege,  this  castle,  the  desire  of 
the  rebels,  the  tears  of  old  Sir  Watt,  and  the  key  of  those  parts,  by 
the  loyalty  and  brave  resolution  of  this  honourable  lady,  the  valour 
of  Captain  Lawrence,  and  some  eighty  soldiers  (by  the  loss  only  of 
two  men),  was  delivered  from  the  bloody  intentions  of  these  merci- 
less rebels,  on  the  4th  of  August,  1643." 

The  maiden  name  of  Lady  Banks,  the  heroic  defender,  was 
Mary  Hawtrey,  only  daughter  of  Robert  Hawtrey,  Esq.,  of  Riselip. 
From  her  descends  the  present  family  of  Bankcs,  of  Kingston  Hall 
and  Corfe  Castle. 

In  the  year  1645  and  1646,  the  Castle  was  again  besieged,  or 
rather  blockaded,  by  the  Parliament  forces,  who  obtained  possession 
through  the  treachery  of  Lieutenant-Colonel  Pitman,  an  officer  of 
the  garrison.  When  it  was  delivered  up,  the  Parliament  ordered  it 
to  be  demolished  ;  and  the  walls  and  towers  were  undermined,  and 
thrown  down,  or  blown  up  with  gunpowder.  "  Thus  this  ancient 
and  magnificent  fabric  was  reduced  to  a  heap  of  ruins,  and  remains 
a  lasting  monument  of  the  dreadful  effects  of  anarchy,  and  the  rage 
of  civil  war.  The  ruins  arc  large,  and  allowed  to  be  the  noblest 
and  grandest  in  the  kingdom,  considering  the  extent  of  the  ground 
on  which  they  stand.  The  vast  fragments  of  the  King's  Tower,  the 
round  towers  leaning  as  if  ready  to  fall,  the  broken  walls,  and  vast 
pieces  of  them  tumbled  down  into  the  vale  below,  form  such  a  scene 


Smcdmore  House,  465 

of  havoc  and  desolation,  as  strikes  every  curious  spectator  with 
horror  and  concern.  The  plenty  of  stone  in  the  neighbourhood, 
and  the  excellency  of  the  cement,  harder  to  be  broken  than  the 
stones  themselves,  have  preserved  these  prodigious  ruins  from  being 
embezzled  and  lessened." — Hutchins. 


Smedmore  House. 

Smedmore  House  is  a  somewhat  sombre-looking  mansion  near 
the  coast  of  Dorsetshire,  and  about  four  miles  from  Corfe  Castle  in 
a  south-west  direction.  It  occupies  an  elevated  site,  is  surrounded 
with  clumps  of  birches,  and,  at  some  little  distance,  with  belts  of 
pine,  and  commands  a  fine  burst  of  sea-view,  where  Kimeridge  Bay 
becomes  lost  in  the  English  Channel.  Of  the  house  itself  little  can 
be  said,  except  that  one  portion  of  it  is  old — dating  from  the  early 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  estate  long  remained  in  the 
possession  of  the  Clavells,  a  well-known  family  of  Dorset  and 
Devonshire,  and  is  now  the  property  of  their  descendant,  John 
Clavell  Mansell,  Esq. 

The  Clavells  or  Clavylles — for  in  these  old  family  names  there 
are  always  varieties  of  spelling — can  boast  an  antiquity  not  to  be 
equalled  in  this  county,  if,  indeed,  in  any  other  county  in  England. 
They  have  resided  in  Dorset,  and  held  possessions  there  almost  ever 
since  the  Conquest.  They  were  illustrious  enough  to  come  within  the 
notice  of  Domesday  Book,  which  august  authority  states  that 
Walterus  de  Claville,  or  Clanville,  held  "  Alveronstune,  Cnolle, 
Holne,  Cume,  Mordune."  In  the  Black  Book  of  the  Exchequer, 
Radulfus  Clavell  held  a  knight's  fee  of  Alured  de  Lincoln.  There 
were  several  branches  of  this  family  settled,  in  very  ancient  times, 
at  different  places  in  Wilts,  as  well  as  in  Devon  and  Dorset.  These 
branches  became  extinct  long  ago,  with  the  exception  of  those 
of  Alfrington  and  Feme,  whence  the  Smedmore  branch  of  the 
Clavells  seems  to  be  descended. 

John  Clavell,  the  first  of  that  name  of  whom  we  hear  in  connexion 
with  Smedmore,  died  in  the  tenth  year  of  King  Edward  IV.  His 
wife,  the  heiress  of  Wyott,  is  said  to  have  been  cousin  and  heir  to 
John  Extoke,  alias  Middlestrcet,  in  Spettesbury.  By  her  the  estates 
of  Barnston,  Smedmore,  and  Baltington  came  into  the  Claville 
family.  Sir  William  Claville,  of  Smedmore  (born  1568,  died  1644^ 
♦  H  H 


4^6  SmedinoTc  House. 

held  a  command  in  Ireland  during  the  troubles  there  at  the  end  of 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  i  or  his  services  in  this  campaign 
he  was  created  a  Knight  Banneret.  This  gentleman,  so  fortunate 
and  so  practical  on  the  field  of  battle — a  man  who  had  no  fear  what- 
ever when  a  hostile  troop  came  dashing  against  his  line — had  the 
somewhat  singular  weakness  to  be  given  to  vast  and  visionary 
projects.  The  indulgence  in  these  intangible  speculations  having 
cost  him  20,000/. — a  tremendous  sum  in  those  days — he  was  obliged 
to  sell  and  mortgage  great  part  of  his  estate  in  order  to  re-establish 
his  credit.  This  sharp  lesson,  however,  seems  to  have  cured  the 
knight  of  his  projects.  His  next  act  was  probably  the  most  sensible 
one  he  ever  performed  in  his  capacity  as  a  civilian.  He  vested  the 
remainder  of  his  landed  possessions  in  trustees  "  for  their  con- 
tinuance in  his  name  and  blood,  that  they  might  descend  to  his 
kinsman,  Roger  Clavell  of  Winfrith,  and  his  heirs."  Sir  William 
died  without  issue. 

From  all  that  can  be  learned  of  this  ancient  family  it  appears 
that  its  successive  representatives  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  their 
way  in  virtue,  loyalty,  and  general  respectability.  Indeed  the 
almost  monotonous  succession  of  Clavells  seems  to  have  been  only 
once  broken,  and  then  it  was  broken  with  a  vengeance. 

John  Clavell,  nephew  of  Sir  William  Clavell,  the  stout  Banneret 
and  unlucky  projector,  made  himself  much  more  conspicuously 
distinguished  than  the  usual  run  of  his  humdrum,  respectable 
ancestors.  He  was  at  once  a  gentleman  by  birth,  of  ancient  family 
and  liberal  education  ;  a  thorough-paced  and  intrepid  highwayman  ; 
and  a  poet  of  tender  sentiment,  elegant  expression,  and  sound 
reasoning  powers.  By  what  freak  of  fortune  a  gentleman  of  feel- 
ing and  training  and  a  cadet  of  one  of  the  very  oldest  and  best 
families  in  England  was  converted  into  a  footpad,  it  is  useless  now 
to  inquire.  The  record  of  his  trial  seems  to  have  been  lost,  but  it 
is  very  questionable  whether  in  his  examination  he  disclosed  the 
particulars  of  his  introduction  to  the  life  of  "  the  Road."  The  mere 
fact,  however,  that  after  having  been  found  guilty,  he  was  freely  par- 
doned by  the  king  (Charles  I.),  and  was  some  little  time  afterwards 
set  at  liberty,  seems  to  prove  that  in  his  case  there  must  have  been 
"extenuating  circumstances,"  and  that  though  he  was  a  highway- 
man he  was  not  quite  a  brutal  ruffian.  He  relieved  men  of  their 
/)urscs,  but  he  left  them  in  whole  skins.  He  indited  "A  Few 
lines  presented  untoc  his  Majestic,  after  I  was  apprehended,  yet 
before  my  tryall,  inserted  here  at  the  entreaty  of  a  friend."  These 
lines  are  as  follows  :— 


Smedmore  House,  467 

••  I  that  have  robbed  so  oft,  am  now  bid  stand, 
Death  and  the  Law  assault  me,  and  demand 
My  life  and  meanes  ;  1  never  -used  men  so, 
But  having  ta'en  their  money,  let  them  goe ; 
Yet  must  1  die  ?  and  is  there  no  relief? 
The  King  of  kings  took  mercy  on  a  thief; 
So  may  my  gracious  King,  in  mercy,  save  me. 
Although  grim  Death  and  Law  do  thus  out-brave  me. 

God  is  his  President  [precedent  ?]  anc^  men  shall  see 

His  Mercie  is  beyond  Severity." 

The  words  in  italics  afford  us  some  key  to  the  man.  Clavell 
did  not  "steal,"  he  "conveyed."  He  robbed  with  the  gay  non- 
chalance of  a  Duval,  and  after  dancing  lofty  corantos  with  terrified 
maidens  on  the  midnight  heath,  he  robbed  them  of  their  purses, 
and  sometimes  of  their  hearts  as  well.  There  is  really  no  ground, 
however,  for  supposing  that  Clavell  was  anything  else  than  a 
robber  pure  and  simple.  His  volume  of  poems,  "A  Recantation  of 
an  Ill-Led  Life  :  or,  A  Discoverie  of  the  High-way  Law,  &c. 
Written  by  John  Clavell,  Gent  London:  Fleet  Street,  1634," 
lies  before  us,  and  from  the  portrait  of  the  "  author  and  the  hero  of 
the  story,"  which  forms  the  frontispiece  of  the  work,  we  should 
judge  that  the  role  of  a  wicked  Adonis  would  be  the  very  last  that 
he  could  have  assumed.  The  likeness  is  said  to  be  vera  et  viva 
effigies  Johanis  Clavel  generosi  cetatis  sua  25.  Above  the  picture 
is  the  legend,  Ego,  no7i  sum  ego  j  and  appended  to  it  are  the  fol- 
lowing lines  by  the  author : — 

"  That  I  may  neither  beare  another's  blame 
Through  wronge  suspicions,  nor  yet  act  ye  same 
At  any  time  hereafter,  but  prove  true. 
Lot  to  be  known,  you  have  my  face  at  view!" 

At  twenty-five  years  of  age,  then,  Clavell  was  a  man  of  some 
experience.  He  had  been  well  educated,  and  was  skilled  in  the 
classical  tongues  as  well  as  in  French ;  he  was  well  read  in  the 
English  poets,  as  the  style  and  culture  of  his  verse  proves  ;  he  had 
become  a  highwayman,  fascinated  by  what  he  supposed  to  be  the 
"  romance"  of  the  life  in  the  saddle,  as  many  an  ardent,  hot-headed 
young  fool  has  been  tempted  to  do,  or  has  actually  done,  since  his 
day  ;  he  had  engaged  in  many  public  robberies  on  the  king's 
highway ;  he  had  the  good  luck  to  be  apprehended,  the  further 
good  luck  to  be  found  guilty,  and  the  extreme  good  luck  to  be 
sentenced  to  death.  This  awakening  treatment  raised  up  the  man 
and  the  gentleman  in  Clavell,  and  gave  the  final  coitj)  de  grace  to 

U  H  2 


468  Smedmore  House, 

whatever  was  left  in  him  of  the  old  Adam  of  the  road.  False 
estimates  of  excellence  and  eminence,  the  outgrowths  of  a  poetical 
temperament  totally  without  restraint,  had  tempted  him  to  join  the 
gentlemen  of  the  moon;  but  wiser  than  Paul  Clifford — at  least, 
Lytton's  Paul  Clifford — he  very  soon  found  out  that  the  poetry 
with  which  he  had  invested  the  occupation  of  a  highwayman 
existed  nowhere  save  in  his  own  ill-regulated  brain.  But  the  occu- 
pation he  had  taken  to  from  choice,  he  felt,  for  the  time  at  least, 
bound  to  follow  from  necessity  ;  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  had 
his  career  as  a  robber  not  been  cut  short  at  an  early  stage,  Clavell 
would — as  many  a  man  has  done  who  invests  himself  voluntarily 
with  immoral  and  brutal  associations — have  rapidly  declined  from 
his  level  of  moral  elevation,  and  from  being  a  hot-headed  but 
good-hearted,  adventurous,  daring,  yet  generous  boy,  would  have 
become  the  brutal,  violent,  morally  blind  man.  Good  thoughts 
would  have  ceased  to  visit  him;  evil  thoughts  would  have  dwelt 
with  him  perpetually ;  and  in  some  moment  of  insane,  self-roused 
rage,  when  a  victim  perhaps  showed  a  disinclination  to  be  fleeced, 
he  would  have  added  the  crime  of  murder  to  that  of  robbery. 

Of  the  poems  which  Clavell  has  left,  all  were  written  in  prison, 
with  perhaps  one  or  two  exceptions.  Of  his  longest  work,  his 
"  Recantation,"  in  which  he  confesses  his  crimes,  describes  the 
oaths  by  which  bands  of  highwaymen  are  sworn,  and  "  the  manner 
of  their  assault,  and  how  they  behave  themselves  in  the  action  and 
after  ;"  he  gives  instructions  to  the  honest  traveller  as  to  the  proper 
precautions  to  take  in  order  to  get  over  his  journey  in  safety,  as 
well  as  "  instructions  to  the  innkeeper  how  to  know  thieves  from 
his  honest  guests,"  &c.  In  a  prefatory  address,  he  says  of  his  own 
work — "  I  have  hereby  not  only  prevented  the  baser  sort  of  people 
from  committing  such  rebellious  outrages,  but  also  laid  open  to  the 
baser  sort  (I  mean  to  such  as  are  of  gentle  parentage)  the  foulness 
and  baseness  of  the  act,  that  whoso  hath  the  least  relish  of  a  gen- 
tleman will  be  no  more  seduced  and  that  way  misled." 

In  an  admirably  written  letter  to  the  Privy  Council  and  Council 
of  War,  Clavell,  afier  his  pardon,  declares  that  he  would  have 
suffered  the  shameful  death  "  that  was  due  to  him,  rather  than,  now 
that  there  is  fairc  occasion,  I  should  be  debarred  from  regaining 
my  lost  honour  and  reputation  in  his  Majesty's  warrcs  abroad." 
He  then  begs  of  the  Council  that  they  may  grant  him  a  warrant  for 
discharge,  "that  I  may  not  spend  my  youthful  days  in  this 
miserable  and  wretched  prison,  but  may  enter  upon  my  Prince 


Smedmore  House.  469 

and  countrie's  service,  where   I  am  resolved  to  acquit  myself  by 

some  brave  and  notable  exploit  or  a  worthy  death." 

Of  the  fate  of  John  Clavell  nothing  is  known  with  certainty. 
That  he  did  join  the  service  and  follow  his  Majesty's  wars  abroad 
is  most  Hkely.  In  the  following  sentence  from  the  publisher's 
preface  to  the  third  edition  of  his  works  he  disappears  from 
history : — "  He  not  only  lives,  but  hath  also  made  good  all  those 
his  promises  and  strict  resolutions,  insomuch  that  it  has  become 
very  disputable  amongst  wise  men  whether  they  should  more 
admire  (wonder  at)  his  iormer  ill  ways,  or  his  now  most  singular 
reformatioxi." 


470 


DEVONSHIRE. 

Exeter  Castle. 

Exeter  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  settlement  of  the  Britons  before 
the  Roman  invasion.  It  vvras  then  called  Caer-Isc,  and  Caer-Rydh ;  the 
former  derived  from  its  situation  on  the  Exe  or  Isc,  the  latter  from  the 
red  soil  on  which  the  Castle  is  built.  From  the  number  of  coins, 
small  bronze  statues  (Penates),  tessellated  pavements,  and  other  Roman 
antiquities  discovered  near  the  walls  and  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
city,  Exeter  must  have  been  a  Roman  station  of  some  importance.  In 
the  reign  of  Alfred  it  had  acquired  the  name  of  Exan-Cestre  (Castle  on 
the  Exe),  whence  its  present  name.  In  the  reign  of  King  Stephen, 
Baldwin  Rivers,  Earl  of  Devon,  fortified  Exeter  on  behalf  of  the 
Empress  Maude,  and  did  not  yield  till  reduced  by  famine,  after  a  long 
siege.  It  was  besieged  in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 
by  Perkin  Warbeck,  and  again  by  the  rabble  of  Devonshire  and  Corn- 
wall in  1549. 

The  city  of  Exeter  was  formerly  surrounded  by  walls  and  strongly 
fortified.  Leland  says  of  it: — "The  toune  is  a  good  mile  and  more  in 
compace,  and  is  right  strongly  waullid  and  maintained.  There  be 
diverse  fare  towers  in  the  toune  waul  bctwyxt  t!ie  south  and  west  gate." 
Situated  on  a  high  eminence,  north  of  the  town,  are  the  remains  of 
the  Castle,  called  Rougemont.  When  this  fortress  was  first  erected  is 
unknown ;  but  it  was  either  rebuilt  or  much  repaired  by  William  the 
Conqueror,  who  bestowed  it  on  Baldwin  de  Briono,  husband  of 
Albrina,  his  niece,  in  the  possession  of  whose  descendants  it  remained 
till  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  who  then  took  it 
into  his  own  hands.  It  was  completely  dismantled  during  the  Civil 
War,  and  has  never  since  been  rebuilt.  To  the  north  of  the  Castle  is 
a  delightful  walk,  shaded  by  line  t)id  elm-treos,  called  Northernay. 

In  January,  i5.r;4-5,  Sir  Peter  and  Sir  Gavven  Carew,  Sir  Thomas 
Dennis,  and  others,  being  up  in  arms  to  oppose  King  Philip  coming 
to  England  to  wed  our  Queen  Mary,  are  said  to  have  taken  possession 
of  the  city  and  Castle  of  Exeter. 


47  i 


Tavistock  Abbey. 

Tavistock,  on  the  Tavy,  had  its  origin  from  a  magnificent  Abbey 
for  the  order  of  St.  Augustine,  in  the  tenth  century.  Orgarius,  Earl 
of  Devonshire,  whose  daughter,  Elfrida,  is  so  well  known  to  the 
readers  of  English  history,  may  be  considered  as  the  original  founder, 
though  some  ascribe  it  wholly  to  his  son  Ordulph.  Orgarius,  the  tradition 
goes,  being  admonished  in  a  dream,  began  at  Tavistock,  a.d.  961,  a 
splendid  Abbey,  which  he  dedicated  to  St.  Mary,  but  did  not  live  to 
complete  it.  It  was,  however,  finished  in  981  by  Ordulph,  his  son, 
and  endowed  by  him  and  his  lady  with  many  manors,  that  of  Tavistock 
included.  Ordulph  was  nephew  to  King  Etheldred,  and  is  said  to  have 
been  of  such  gigantic  stature  and  herculean  strength,  that  he  could 
break  the  bars  of  gates,  and  stride  across  a  river  of  ten  feet  wide. 
Some  huge  bones,  said  to  be  those  of  Ordulph,  are  still  preser\ed  in 
Tavistock  Church.  Amongst  other  benefactors.  King  Etheldred  was 
a  considerable  one  to  his  nephew's  establishment,  and  the  institution 
became  very  wealthy  and  flourishing.  The  Danes,  in  the  year  997, 
sailing  round  the  Land's  End,  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Tamar,  and 
proceeding  a  considerable  distance  up  that  river,  marched  to  Tavistock; 
where,  after  having  spoiled  the  Monastery  they  burnt  it  to  the  ground, 
and  carried  off  the  plunder  to  their  ships. 

The  Abbey  was  shortly  after  this  devastation  rebuilt,  and  soon  became 
more  flourishing  than  ever,  additional  grants  and  immunities  having 
been  given  by  various  persons.  Leving,  or  Living,  Bishop  of  \\'^orcester, 
is  mentioned  by  Speed  as  "a  speciall  benefactor."  Henry  L(i ico- 
1135)  granted  to  the  Abbot  the  jurisdiction  and  whole  hundred  of 
Tavistock,  together  with  the  privilege  of  a  weekly  market,  and  a  fair 
once  a  year  for  three  days.  Soon  after  its  re-establishment,  a  school 
for  the  study  of  Saxon,  which  had  grown  greatly  in*o  disuse,  was 
founded;  "and,"  says  Camden,  "continued  down  to  the  last  age, 
lest  (that  which  hath  almost  now  happened)  the  knowledge  of  it 
should  be  quite  lost."  In  the  succession  of  the  Abbots  several  were 
learned  men,  and  soon  after  the  introduction  of  the  art  of  printing  into 
England,  there  was  establishtd  in  the  Abbey  a  press,  from  which  many 
books  were  issued,  and  amongst  the  rest  a  Saxon  grammar.  Richard 
Barham,  the  thirty-fifth  Abbot,  obtained  from  Henry  VIII.,  in  1513, 
the  privilege  of  sitting  in  the  House  of  Peers ;  or,  in  other  words, 
became  a  mitred  abbot.  This  he  probably  gained  by  purchase,  in 
order  to  be  revenged  on  Hugh  Oldham,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  with  whom 


472  Tavistock  Abbey. 

he  had  great  disputes,  and  finally  caused  to  be  excommunicated.  In 
1:539,  John  Peryn,  the  thirty-sixth  and  last  Abbot,  surrendered  his 
Monastery  on  being  allowed  the  sum  of  100/.  per  annum  for  life. 
The  lands  were  granted  by  Henry  VIII.  to  John  Lord  Russell,  whose 
descendant,  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  is  now  owner  of  its  site  and  ruins 
The  revenues  of  the  Abbey  were  valued  at  the  Suppression  at  the 
yearly  rent  of  902/.  5/.  7^. ;  but  it  must  be  observed  that  the  Abbots 
and  Priors  foreseeing  the  impending  storm,  set  the  yearly  rents  very 
low,  and  the  fines  very  high,  that  they  might  have  a  sufficient  support 
if  expelled  their  houses. 

The  following,  extracted  from  Risdon,  relates  a  circumstance  whereby 
a  considerable  addition  was  made  to  the  possessions  of  the  Abbey. 
"  It  is  lefte  us  by  tradition,"  says  he,  "  that  one  Ghilde,  of  Plimstocke, 
a  man  of  faire  possessions,  havinge  noe  issue,  ordained,  that  wherever 
he  shoulde  happen  to  be  buried,  to  that  churche  his  lands  should 
belong.  It  so  fortuned  that  he,  ridinge  to  hunt  in  the  forest  of  Dart- 
moor, casually  lost  his  companye,  and  his  waye ;  likewise  the  season 
beinge  so  colde  and  he  so  benumbed  therewithe,  that  he  was  enforced 
to  kill  his  horse,  and  havinge  so  killed  him,  to  creepe  into  his  beliye  to 
gett  heat ;  which  not  beinge  able  to  preseiTe  him,  he  was  there  frozen 
to  dcathe ;  and  so  founde,  was  carried  by  Tavystokemcn  to  be  buried 
in  the  churche  of  the  Abbye ;  which  was  not  so  secretlye  done,  but  the 
inhabitants  got  knowledge  thereof;  which  to  prevent,  they  resorted  to 
hinder  the  carryinge  of  the  corpse  on  the  bridge,  where  they  concluded 
necessitye  compelled  them  to  passe.  But  they  were  deceived  by  a 
guile.  For  the  Tavystokemen  forthwith  builded  a  slyghte  bridge,  and 
passed  on  at  another  place  without  resistance,  buried  the  bodye,  and 
enjoyed  the  lands.  In  memorye  whereof,  the  bridge  beareth  the  name 
of  Gylcbridge  to  this  daye."  Neither  this  bridge  nor  the  Abbey 
Church  are  now  in  existence,  although  there  are  still  some  remains 
of  the  institution ;  among  these  are  part  of  the  walls,  the  refectory,  the 
still-house,  Ordulph's  tomb,  and  a  small  gateway.  Not  far  from 
Tavistock  is  the  Abbots'  hunting-seat,  which,  from  its  capaciousness 
and  other  visible  marks  of  its  former  grandeur,  displays  the  sumptuous 
manner  in  which  these  dignitaries  lived. 

It  is  recorded  that  a  printing-press  set  up  in  Tavistock  Abbey  was 
the  second  set  up  in  this  country ;  its  productions  are  now  extremely 
rare. 


473 


Berry  Pomeroy  Castle. 

The  parish  of  Berry  Pomeroy,  near  the  river  Dart,  about  two  miles 
fiom  Totness,  is  named  as  follows : — Barry,  or  more  properly  Berry, 
signifies  a  walled  town,  and  the  addition  of  Pomeroy  is  from  the 
family  which,  for  many  centuries,  held  possession  of  the  manor.  This 
family  was  descended  from  Ralph  de  Pomerat,  one  of  the  followers 
of  William  the  Conqueror,  who  gave  him  not  only  the  manor  of  Berry, 
but  many  other  lordships  and  estates  in  the  county.  This  person 
built  a  Castle  here,  and  made  it  the  seat  of  a  barony  or  honour.  The 
family  of  the  Pomeroys  continued  to  reside  here  and  hold  the  chief 
rank  in  this  part  of  the  country  until  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  when 
the  manor  of  Beiry  came,  by  forfeiture,  cession,  or  sale,  it  is  not  agreed 
which,  from  the  hands  of  Sir  Thomas  Pomeroy  to  the  Protector 
Somei-set,  one  of  whose  descendants.  Sir  Edward  Somerset,  second 
Baronet,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  lived  in  retirement  at  the  Castle 
of  Berry  Pomeroy,  upon  which  he  is  said  to  have  expended  upwards 
of  20,000/.  His  eldest  son.  Sir  Edward,  sat  for  Devon  in  the  last  two 
Parliaments  of  Charles  I.,  by  adhering  to  whom  Sir  Edward  had  his 
Castle  plundered  and  burnt  to  the  ground.  A  mansion  was  then 
built  on  the  brow  of  a  steep  hill,  and  has  since  remained  with  Sir 
Edward's  descendants.  The  Duke  of  Somerset  is  impropriator  of  the 
great  tithes,  which  formerly  belonged  to  the  Priory  of  Merton,  in 
Surrey.  Prince,  the  author  of  The  H^orthies  of  Dei'on,  was  Vicar  of 
Berry  Pomeroy ;  in  the  parish  church  are  some  handsome  monuments 
of  the  Seymour  family. 

The  magnificent  ruins  of  the  Castle  erected  by  the  Pomeroys  are 
seated  upon  a  rock,  which  rises  almost  perpendicularly  from  a  narrow 
valley,  through  which  winds  a  small  stream  of  water.  Being  overhung  by 
the  branches  of  trees  and  shrubs,  and  incrusted  with  moss  and  mantled 
by  ivy,  the  ruins  form,  in  combination  with  the  other  features  of  the 
scenc^  one  of  the  most  striking  and  picturesque  objects  in  the  county. 
The  great  gate,  with  the  walls  of  the  south  front,  the  north  wing  of 
the  court,  or  quadrangle,  some  apartments  on  the  west  side,  and  a  few 
turrets,  are  all  that  now  remains  of  this  Castle,  which  suffered  most 
severely  in  the  Civil  Wars  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.  According  to 
tradition,  the  town  of  Berry  Pomeroy  was  destroyed  by  lightning. 


474 


Lydford  Castle. 

Lydford,  situated  about  seven  miles  north  of  Tavistock,  though  now 
a  village  of  rude  cottages,  was  once  a  place  of  importance.  Here 
Ethelred  had  a  Mint;  and  at  the  accession  of  King  William  I.  it  had 
as  many  as  one  hundred  and  forty  burgesses.  Some  remains  of  it 
ancient  state  may  still  be  seen  in  a  square  tower,  or  Keep,  of  a  Castle, 
which  was  formerly  used  as  a  court  and  a  prison,  where  those  criminalt 
were  tried  and  confined  who  offended  against  the  Stannary  Laws. 
The  law  of  Lydford  is  a  proverbial  phrase,  expressive  of  too  hasty 
judgment;  as  where  the  judge  condemns  first  and  hears  the  cause 
afterwards.     Ray  gives  it  thus : — 

"  First  hang  and  draw, 
Then  hear  the  cause  by  Lydford  law," 

It  is  jocularly  accounted  for  by  the  bad  state  of  the  Castle,  where 
imprisonment  was  worse  than  death,  by  William  Browne,  a  poet  of 
some  eminence  in  his  day,  born  at  Tavistock  in  the  year  1520;  and 
who,  being  anxious  for  the  reputation  of  his  county,  attempts  to  show 
that  the  above  summary  method  of  procedure  originated  from  merciful 
motives : — 

"  I  oft  have  heard  of  Lydford  law, 
How  in  the  morn  they  hang  and  draw, 

And  sit  in  judgment  after. 

At  first  I  wondered  at  it  much ; 

But  since  I  find  the  reason  such 

As  it  deserves  no  laughter. 

•'  They  have  a  Castle  on  a  hill ; 
I  took  it  for  an  old  wind-mill, 

The  vanes  blown  off  by  weather. 
To  lie  therein  one  night,  'tis  guessed 
"Twere  better  to  be  stoned  and  pressed, 

Or  hanged,  now  choose  you  whether. 

••  Ten  men  less  room  within  this  cave 
Tlian  five  mice  in  a  lantern  have. 

The  keepers  they  are  sly  ones. 
If  any  could  devise  by  art 
To  get  it  up  into  a  cart, 

"Iwere  fit  to  carry  lions. 
••  When  I  beheld  it,  Ix)rd  I  thought  I, 
What  justice  and  what  clemency 

I  lath  Lydford,  when  I  saw  all  ; 
I  know  none  gladly  there  would  stay. 
But  rather  hang  out  of  the  way, 

Than  tarry  for  a  trial." 

Lydford  has,  too,  its  romantic  waterfall  and  bridge ;  the  latter  in 
situation   rcscmblmg   the   celebrated   Devil's    Bridge,  in   Wales.    It 


il 


Compton  Castle.  475 

consists  of  one  rude  arch  thrown  across  a  rocky  chasm  which  sinks 
nearly  eighty  feet  from  the  level  of  the  road.  At  the  bottom  of  this 
channel,  the  small  river  Lyd  is  heard  rattling  through  its  contracted 
course.  At  a  little  distance  below  the  bridge,  "  the  fissure  gradually 
spreads  its  rocky  jaws ;  and  instead  of  the  dark  precipices  which  have 
hitherto  overhung  and  obscured  the  struggling  river,  it  now  emerges 
into  day,  and  rolls  its  murmuring  current  through  the  winding  valley, 
confined  within  magnificent  banks,  darkened  with  woods,  which  swell 
into  bold  promontories,  or  fall  back  into  sweeping  ranges,  till  they  are 
lost  to  the  eye  in  distance.  Thickly  shaded  by  trees,  which  shoot  out 
from  the  sides  of  the  chasm,  the  scene  at  Lydford  Bridge  is  not  so 
terrific  as  it  would  have  been  had  a  little  more  light  been  let  in  upon 
the  abyss,  just  sufficient  to  produce  a  darkness  visible.  As  it  is,  how- 
ever, the  chasm  cannot  be  regarded  without  shuddering ;  nor  will  the 
stoutest  heart  meditate  unappalled  upon  the  terrific  anecdotes  connected 
with  the  spot." 

Scenes  of  this  description  frequently  give  rise  to  marvellous  stories ; 
and  Lydford  Bridge  has  its  tales  of  terror.  It  is  related,  that  a  London 
rider  was  benighted  on  his  road,  in  a  heavy  storm,  and  wishing  to  get 
to  some  place  of  shelter,  spurred  his  horse  forward  with  more  than 
common  speed.  The  tempest  had  been  tremendous  during  the  night, 
and  next  morning  the  rider  was  informed  that  Lydford  Bridge  had 
been  swept  away  with  the  current.  He  shuddered  at  his  narrow 
escape,  his  horse  having  cleared  the  chasm  by  a  great  sudden  leap  in 
the  middle  of  his  course,  though  the  occasion  of  his  making  it  at  the 
time  was  unknown.  Two  or  three  pei-sons  have  chosen  this  spot  for 
self-destruction,  and  in  a  moment  of  desperation  have  dashed  themselves 
from  the  bridge  into  the  murky  chasm. 


Compton  Castle. 

Compton  Castle,  on  the  south-east  coast  of  Devon,  and  about  two 
miles  from  Torbay,  was,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  the  property  and 
residence  of  Sir  Maurice  de  Pole.  Afterwards  the  Lady  Alice  Pole 
bestowed  it  on  Peter,  surnamed  de  Compton,  whose  descendants  con- 
tinued owners  for  seven  generations,  when  it  was  conveyed  to  the  co- 
heiresses of  the  Gilbert  family.  Towards  the  close  of  the  last  century  the 
estate  was  purchased  of  the  Templers,  of  Stover  Lodge  ;  but  on  its 
being  sold  in  parcels,  about  the  year  1808,  the  old  castellated  mansion 
of  the  Comptons  was  converted  into  a  farm-house. 


J 


J 


47^  Compton  Castle. 

Compton  Castle  is  almost  unique  as  a  specimen  of  the  early  fortified 
mansion,  and  dates  from  the  period  of  Edward  III.  Though  the 
greater  portion  of  the  mansion  lies  in  ruins,  and  the  other  portion  has 
been  much  altered,  yet  the  remains  are  not  deficient  in  interest.  The 
buildings,  constructed  of  the  native  limestone,  are  very  massive.  The 
chapel  is  vaulted  ;  and  it  is  remarkable  that  the  eastern  window  is  the 
only  ancient  part  of  the  fortress  left  unprotected  by  the  extraordinary 
contrivance  of  a  walled  screen-work  (or  machicolation)  erected  upon 
corbels.  It  was  probably  considered  that,  as  the  chapel  formed  a  dis- 
tinct and  independent  mass,  the  penetration  so  far  would  not  endanger 
the  security  of  the  fortress.  There  appeared  in  the  Graphic  and 
Historical  Illustrator  in  1834,  the  following  stanzas  on  these  castellated 
remains  :^ 

•*  Record  of  other  men  and  days, 

The  Autumn  leaf  around  thee  falls ; 
The  wailing  breeze  of  Autumn  strays 

Amid  thy  ruin'd  walls ! 
A  loftier  pile  I  oft  have  seen, 

With  stately  front,  and  hoary  towers; 
But  not  more  pensively,  I  ween. 

Through  spacious  hall,  and  fretted  boweiS, 
I've  slowly  paced,  than  pace  I  here. 
Taught  wisdom  by  the  waning  year. 

•*  To  distant  times  I  backward  glance, 

In  dreaming  reverie,  and  see 
The  warrior,  laid  aside  his  lance, 

The  palmer,  and  the  maiden  free, 
Of  guileless  heart — and  courteous  dame, 

Of  matron  look,  and  minstrel  old, 
With  lays  of  love  and  martial  fame, 

Assembled  in  thy  lordly  hold  ; 
While  brightly  blaz'd  the  hearth,  and  scng 
Chas'd  nights  of  wintry  gloom  along, 

••  Or  o'er  thy  ample  park  the  deer 

Fly  swift  before  the  baying  hound — 
Or  falcon,  mid  the  azure  clear. 

Strike  her  fleet  quarry  to  the  ground: 
Or  vassals,  at  the  trumjjet's  call. 

In  mustering  speed— a  fearless  band, 
March  forth,  to  conquer  or  to  fall, 

Beneath  their  haughty  chiefs  commandl 
While  many  a  gentle  heart,  in  fear, 
Throbb'd  the  departing  clang  to  hear. 

••And  now  dismantled— r.ro«trafe  all 

'Ihy  former  might,  there  ocarcc  rcmaina 

Enough  of  what  thou  wcrt,  to  call 
Tliy  bulwarks  and  thy  wide  domains 

Back  to  the  musing  mind;  and  e'en 
I'radition'*  voice,  all  hiuh'd  and  stilU 


^^ 


Combe  Marten  Celebrities^  477 

Restores  not  to  the  changeful  scene, 

From  the  sepulchre,  dark  and  chit. 
The  names,  the  exploits  of  the  dead. 
Ere  thy  brief  day  of  pride  had  fled. 

••  The  peasant  finds  in  thee  a  home, 

The  rustic  shed  beside  thee  stands ; 
Thy  ancient  dwellers,  like  the  foam 

That  sinks  beneath  the  ocean  sands, 
Have  perish'd,  and  have  left  no  trace 

Of  what  they  would  have  been,  or  were; 
Forgotten  in  their  nalal  place 

Their  virtues,  and  their  lineage  fair: 
Forgotten  too,  perchance,  the  crime, 
That  stain'd  the  annals  of  their  time ! 

••  To  twilight  bat,  to  midnight  owl, 

A  dwelling  place  for  many  a  year, 
As  stormy  clouds  above  thee  scowl, 

Methinks  the  doom  of  all  I  hear  ! 
The  loves,  the  joys,  the  hopes,  the  fears. 

The  pride,  the  pomp,  of  living  man 
(E'en  as  thy  glory  disapf)ears). 

Shall  perish  with  his  fleeting  span : 
While  mute,  unhonour'd,  and  forgot. 
Another  race  shall  know  him  not. 

••  Sad  is  the  lesson  :  but  more  wise 

By  sadness  made,  may  it  be  mine 
To  seek  a  mansion  in  tlie  skies, 

Where  changeless  suns  for  ever  shine! 
Though  low  my  lot — my  path  unknown 

To  monarch's  gaze — no  trump  of  fame 
To  sound  above  my  funeral-stone 

The  transient  honours  of  a  name ; 
Mine  be  the  hopes  of  endless  day, 
When  worlds  themselves  have  pass'd  away!"' 


■J 


Combe  Marten  Celebrities. 

Little  Hangman  Hill,  in  this  place,  derives  its  name  from  the  Hang- 
ing Stone,  a  boundary-mark,  so  called  "  from  a  thief,  who,  having 
stolen  a  sheep  and  tied  it  about  his  neck,  to  carry  it  on  his  back,  rested 
himself  for  a  time  on  this  stone,  until  the  sheep,  struggling,  slid  over  the 
side  and  strangled  the  man." 

Combe  Martin  is  commonly  known  as  the  Pack  of  Cards,  and  bear- 
ing no  fanciful  resemblance  to  one  of  those  unstable  piles  built  by 
children.  The  long  irregular  village  lies  in  a  valley  opening  to  a  rocky 
picturesque  bay,  and  in  the  reign  of  Henry  l\.  belonged  to  Martyn  de 
Tours,  a  Norman  baron,  after  whom  it  was  called.  It  is  well  known 
for  its  silver  lead  mines,  which  have  been  worked  at  intervals  from  the 


47°  Totness  Castle. 

reign  of  Edward  I.  Camden  informs  us  that  they  partly  defrayed  the 
expense  of  the  French  war  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  and  that 
Henry  V.  also  made  good  use  of  them  in  his  invasion  of  France.  From 
that  period  they  seem  to  have  been  neglected  until  the  reign  of  Eliza- 
beth, when  a  new  lode  was  discovered  and  worked  with  great  profit  by 
Sir  Beavis  Bulmer,  Knight,  as  appears  by  the  following  quaint  inscrip- 
tion on  a  silver  cup  presented  by  the  Queen  to  William  Bouchier,  Earl 
of  Bath,  when  lord  of  the  manor : — 

' '  When  water  workes  in  broken  wbarfes 

At  first  erected  were, 
And  Beavis  Bulmer  with  his  arte 

The  waters  'gan  to  reare, 
Disperced  I  in  the  earth  did  lye, 

Since  all  beginninge  olde, 
In  place  called  Coombe,  where  Martyn  longe 

Had  hydd  me  in  his  molde. 
I  dydd  no  service  on  the  earth, 

And  no  man  set  me  free. 
Till  Bulmer,  by  his  skille  and  charge, 

Did  frame  mee  this  to  bee." 

Another  cup,  weighing  137  ounces,  and,  like  the  former,  made  of 
Combe  Marten  silver,  was  presented  by  Elizabeth  to  Sir  R.  Martin, 
Lord  Mayor  of  London.  It  bore  an  appropriate  inscription,  beginning 
thus: — 

"  In  Martyn 's  Coombe  long  lay  I  hydd, 

Obscured,  deprest  with  grossest  soyle, 

Debased  much  witn  mixed  lead, 

Till  Bulmer  came,  whose  skille  and  toyle 

Refined  me  so  pure  and  cleane. 

As  rycher  no  where  els  is  scene." 


Totness  Castle. 

The  ancient  town  of  Totness  "  from  the  margin  of  the  river  Dait 
climbs  the  steep  acclivity  of  a  hill,  and  stretches  itself  along  its  brow, 
commanding  a  view  of  tiie  winding  stream,  and  of  the  country  in  its 
vicinity,  but  sheltered  at  the  same  time  by  higher  hills  on  every  side." 
It  was  anciently  called  "  Dodoncsse,"  i^.,  rocky  town ;  its  present  name 
being  probably  derived  from  the  Saxon  tot,  toten,  to  project,  as  in 
Tothill,  Tottenham.  In  early  times  it  was  situated  upon  a  Roman  road 
which  ran  from  Exeter  to  the  Tamar  by  Ugbrooke,  Newton  Abbot, 
Totness,  and  Boringdon  Park  ;  and  its  anticjuity  is  shown  by  the  old 
hibtoric  tradition,  which  here  places  the  landing  of  Brutus  of  Troy. 


Biickfastlcigh,  and  its  Abbey.  479 

It  IS  one  of  the  oldest  boroughs  in  the  county,  and  there  are  fragments 
remaining  of  the  walls  with  which  it  was  formerly  surrounded. 

The  Castle  of  Totness  stands  on  the  summit  of  the  hill,  and  is  said 
to  have  been  built  by  Junel  de  Totenais,  a  Norman  baron,  on  whom 
the  manor  was  bestowed  at  the  Conquest.  The  Keep  is  the  only  part 
now  remaining.  It  is  circular  in  form,  and  a  ruin  of  crumbling  red 
stones,  thickly  mantled  with  ivy. 


Buckfastlcigh,  and  its  Abbey. 

The  tradition  common  to  churches  on  high  ground  belongs  to  that 
of  Buckfastleigh,  a  large  village,  encompassed  by  steep  hills.  It  is  added 
that  the  Devil  obstructed  the  builders  by  removing  the  stones,  and  a 
large  block  bearing  the  mark  of  the  "  enemy's"  finger  and  thumb  is 
pointed  out  on  a  farm  about  a  mile  distant.  The  churchyard  is 
darkened  by  black  marble  tombstones,  and  contains  the  ivied  fragment 
of  an  old  building,  within  which  two  grassy  mounds  mark  the  burial- 
place  of  Admiral  Thomas  White,  R.N.,  and  of  his  wife,  late  of  Buck- 
fast  Abbey. 

The  ruins  of  the  Cistercian  Abbey  of  Buckfastleigh,  supposed  to 
have  been  founded  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  by  one  of  the  Pomeroys 
(but  on  the  site  of  a  Benedictine  house  of  Saxon  antiquity),  are  situated 
north  of  the  village,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Dart.  The  remains  of  this 
Abbey  are,  however,  inconsiderable,  consisting  of  little  more  than  an 
ivied  tower  close  to  the  present  mansion  of  Buckfast  Abbey,  and  the 
tithe  barn,  a  building  about  loo  feet  long,  at  the  Grange.  A  part  of 
the  Abbey  site  is  occupied  by  a  large  woollen  factory.  The  woollen 
trade  at  this  place  is  probably  of  great  antiquity.  The  Cistercians 
were  all  wooltraders;  and  a  green  path  over  the  moors  towards 
Plymouth,  known  to  this  day  as  the  "  Abbot's  Way,"  is  said  to  have 
been  a  "  post  road"  for  the  conveyance  of  the  wool  of  the  community. 
On  the  other  side  of  Buckfastleigh  is  a  wooded  hill,  called  the  "  Lover's 
Coomb,"  commanding  the  Totness  road ;  and  about  two  miles  from 
the  town  is  Hembury  Castle,  an  oblong  encampment  of  about  seven 
acres,  attributed  to  the  Danes. 

From  Buckfastleigh,  on  the  southern  slopes  of  Dartmoor,  is  the 
Vale  of  Dean-Burn.  Polwhele  remarks :  "  It  unites  the  terrible  and 
graceful  in  so  striking  a  manner,  that  to  enter  this  recess  hath  the  effect 
of  enchantment."  Half  way  up  the  glen  are  some  picturesque  water- 
falls.   Dean  Prior,  once  belonging  to  the  Priory  of  Plympton,  was  th? 


480  Torrington  and  Appledore. 

native  parish  of  Herrick  the  poet,  who  wrote  most  of  his  Hesperides 
there ;  he  is  buried  in  the  churchyard.  —  Abridged  from  Murray  i 
Handbook  for  Corniuall  and  Devon. 


Torrington  and  Appledore. 

The  pleasantly  situated  town  of  Ton-ington,  near  North  Molton,  i* 
an  ancient  place,  containing  fragments  of  a  Castle  which  is  said  to  have 
been  founded  by  Richard  de  Merton  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  The 
site  is  now  a  bowling-green,  and  commands  a  fine  view.  Editha,  the 
mother  of  Harold,  was  endowed  with  lands  of  this  tything ;  and  during 
the  Rebellion  stirring  incidents  occurred  in  the  town  and  on  the  adja- 
cent hills.  In  1643  a  body  of  rebels  advanced  from  Bideford  to  attack 
Colonel  Digby,  who  had  marched  upon  Torrington  to  cut  off  the  com- 
munication between  the  North  of  Devon  and  Plymouth.  No  sooner, 
however,  were  they  met  by  a  few  of  the  Royalist  troopers  than  they 
"  routed  themselves,"  to  quote  Clarendon's  words,  and  were  pursued 
with  much  slaughter.  The  consequences  of  this  action  were  the  im- 
mediate surrender  of  the  fort  of  Appledore,  and  subsequently,  of  the 
towns  of  Bamstnple  and  Bideford.  "  The  fugitives,"  says  Clarendon, 
•'  spread  themselves  over  the  country,  bearing  frightful  marks  of  the 
fray,  and  telling  strange  stories  of  the  horror  and  fear  which  had  seized 
them,  although  nobody  had  seen  above  six  of  tlie  enemy  that  charged 
them."  In  1646  the  townspeople  were  witness  to  a  far  more  fatal 
engagement,  when  Fairfax  came  suddenly  by  night  upon  the  quarters 
of  Lord  Hopton.  The  action  which  ensued  was  fiirious  but  decisive, 
and  the  Royalists  were  totally  defeated.  Upon  this  occasion  the 
church,  together  with  200  prisoners  and  those  who  guarded  them,  were 
blown  into  the  air  by  the  explosion  of  about  80  barrels  of  gunpowder. 
The  capture  of  Torrington  was  the  death-blow  of  the  King's  cause  in 
the  west.  In  1660,  the  celebrated  General  IMonk  was  created  Earl  of 
Torrington.  In  1669,  the  town  gave  the  title  of  Earl  to  Admiral 
Herbert ;  and,  in  1720,  of  Viscount  to  Sir  George  Byng.  The  Monk* 
were  seated  for  many  generations  near  Merton,  a  village  between  Tor- 
rington and  Hatherlcigh  ;  but  their  mansion,  sumptuously  rebuilt  about 
1670  by  General  Monk,  when  Duke  of  Albemarle  (he  was  bom  at 
Merton),  was  pulled  down  in  the  last  century. 

Appledore,  a  village  near  Bideford,  is  interesting  for  its  antiquity,  and 
for  a  legend  of  the  renowned  Danish  warrior  Hiibba,  who  is  said  to 
have  landed  near  this  village,  in  the  reign  of  Alfred,  from  a  fleet  of 


Dartmouth  Castle.  4^1 

thirty-three  ships,  and  to  have  laid  siege  to  a  neighbouring  Castle  called 
Kenwith,  the  site  of  which  is  now  only  surmised  to  be  a  hill  called 
Henny  Castle  (near  Kenwith  Lodge,  Dr.  Heywood's),  north-west  of 
Bideford.  The  strength  of  this  place,  however,  proved  too  great  for 
its  assailants.  Hubba  was  slain  under  its  walls,  and  his  followers  driven 
with  slaughter  to  the  shore.  At  one  spot,  it  is  said,  they  rallied,  and 
80  checked  their  pursuers  as  to  be  enabled  to  regain  their  ships ;  and  a 
field  by  the  roadside,  near  the  village  of  Northam,  is  to  this  day  pointed 
out  as  the  place  where  they  turned,  and  has  been  known  from  time  im- 
memorial as  the  "  Bloody  Corner."  In  this  fight  the  so-called  Raven 
banner  was  taken  by  the  Saxons.  It  was  a  black  bird,  probably  a  stuffed 
specimen  of  the  raven,  which  hung  quiet  when  defeat  was  at  hand,  but 
clapped  its  wings  before  victory.  Hubba,  we  are  told,  was  buried  on 
the  shore,  and  the  name  of  "  Hubblestone"  would  seem  to  mark 
the  locality. — Abridged  from  Murray's  Handbook  for  Corrmuall  and 
Devon. 


Dartmouth  Castle. 

Dartmouth  by  its  present  name  first  occurs  in  a  charter  granted  by 
Henry  III.  to  Edward  de  Gloucester  in  1226.  The  town  was  first  in- 
corporated under  the  title  of  Clifton-Dartmouth-Hardness  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  III.,  1342,  at  which  time  it  was  evidently  a  port  of  great 
consequence,  as  it  furnished  no  less  than  thirty-one  ships  to  the  fleet 
intended  for  the  siege  of  Calais,  a  larger  quota  than  was  supplied  by  any 
other  town  in  the  kingdom,  excepting  Fowey  and  Yarmouth.  Chaucer 
has  taken  his  "  shipman  "  from  Dartmouth,  and  contemporary  with  the 
poet,  there  were  merchants  at  this  place  so  wealthy,  and  possessed  of  so 
many  ships,  that  it  was  said  of  one  Hawley — 

"  Blow  the  wind  high,  or  blow  it  low, 
It  bloweth  fair  to  Hawley  s  hoe." 

It  18  said  that  a  fleet  of  crusaders,  under  Cceur  de  Lion,  assembled 
in  Dartmouth  harbour  in  1190.  In  1347,  the  town  contributed  a  large 
quota  to  the  armament  of  King  Edward.  In  1377  it  was  destroyed 
by  the  French,  who  in  that  year  swept  our  shores  from  the  Isle  of 
Wight  to  Plymouth.  In  1403  it  returned  the  visit  of  the  Frenchmen, 
when,  Du  Chastel  having  a  second  time  destroyed  Plymouth,  Dart- 
mouth combined  with  that  town  in  ravaging  the  coast  of  France,  burn- 
ing and  sinking  forty  of  the  enemy's  ships.  In  1404,  the  French  in  their 
turn  sought  revenge.  Du  Chastel  again  descended  on  Dartmouth,  but 
*  II 


482  TJie  Adventures  of  Sir  Gawen. 

the  expedition  this  time  was  so  roughly  received  as  to  be  compelled  to 
draw  off  with  the  loss  of  400  killed  and  200  prisoners,  including  Du 
Chastel  himself.  In  the  wars  of  the  Roses,  the  Lancastrian  party  used 
Dartmouth  as  their  port.  In  the  Great  Rebellion  the  town  declared 
for  the  Parliament ;  and  in  1643  ^^"^'^  taken  by  Prince  Maurice,  after  a 
siege  of  a  month.  The  Royalists,  however,  after  an  interval  of  three 
years,  were  attacked  by  Fairfax,  who  carried  the  place  by  stonn  in 
Jan.  1646.  Upon  this  occasion  upwards  of  100  pieces  of  ordnance 
were  captured ;  and  the  many  old  towers  and  forts,  now  in  ruins,  on 
the  shore  or  the  heights  of  Dartmouth,  show  the  formidable  number 
of  the  works  with  which  the  general  had  to  contend. 

Dartmouth  Castle,  a  picturesque  building  situated  at  the  extreme 
point  of  the  wooded  promontory  which  bounds  the  entrance  of  the 
harbour,  consists  of  a  square  and  a  round  tower,  the  latter  of  which  is 
the  elder,  and  supposed  to  date  from  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  Adjoin- 
ing this  building  are  three  platforms  of  guns,  the  little  church  of  St. 
Petrox  (containing  an  armorial  gallery  and  a  brass),  and  the  ruins  of 
a  more  ancient  castle,  the  whole  being  enclosed  by  a  wall  and  ditch. 
The  hill,  which  rises  behind  to  the  height  of  300  ft.,  is  crowned  by  the 
remains  of  another  fort,  which  is  mentioned  by  Fairfax  in  his  despatch 
to  the  Parliament  under  the  name  of  "  Gallant's  Bower."  The  round 
tower  of  the  Castle  is  now  a  magazine,  but  formerly  no  doubt  received 
the  iron  chain  which  was  stretched  as  a  defence  across  the  mouth  of 
the  harbour,  and  was  there  drawn  tight  by  a  capstan. 


The  Adventures  of  Sir  Gawen. 

The  union  of  the  King  Arthur  romance  and  the  local  fairy  tradi- 
tions, is  strikingly  illustrated  in  a  very  beautiful  and  curious  fragment 
republished  by  Mr.  Halliwell, — The  Adventures  of  Sir  Gawen. 
Though  the  language  has  been  modernized,  the  form  of  the  legend 
which  can  be  traced  back  at  least  as  far  as  the  fifteenth  century,  has 
undergone  little  alteration.  Arriving  towards  the  close  of  a  summer 
evening,  at  the  entrance  to  a  forest,  Sir  Gawen,  one  of  the  heroes  of  the 
Round  Table,  alights,  and  tying  his  horse  to  a  tree,  threads  his  way 
through  the  dense  vegetation  to  an  old  and  ruinous  castle.  Here  he 
incautiously  enters,  and  the  ghostly  adventures  which  then  ensue  are 
narrated  with  great  dramatic  effect.  As  he  groped  his  way  through 
the  dark  vaults  underneath,  a  sudden  and  agonizing  shriek  burst  forth 
above  him,  and  "  something  rudely  brushing  down  grasped  him  with 


TJu  Adventures  of  Sir  Gawen.  4.83 

tremendous  strength ;  in  a  moment  he  became  motionless,  cold  as  ice; 
and  felt  himself  hurried  back  by  some  irresistible  being;  but  just  ai 
he  reached  the  vault,  a  spectre  of  so  dreadful  a  shape  stalked  bj 
within  it,  that,  straining  every  muscle,  he  sprang  from  the  deadl) 
grasp."  Seeing  a  faint  blue  light  in  an  upper  chamber,  he  went  to- 
wards it,  and  beheld,  from  a  distance,  the  form  of  a  human  corse 
simmering  above  the  fire.  He  looked  on  with  a  horrible  fascination, 
until,  "  as  the  last  pale  portion  of  the  light  died  away,  the  scarce  dis- 
tinguished form  of  some  terrific  being  floated  slowly  by,  and  again 
another  dreadful  groan  ran  deepening  through  the  gloom."  Whilst  he 
was  thus  agitated  with  horror  and  apprehension,  "  a  dim  light  streaming 
from  behind,  accompanied  with  a  soft,  swift,  and  hollow  tread,  convinced 
Sir  Gawen  that  something  was  pursuing  him,  and,  struck  with  bewildering 
fear,  he  rushed  unconscious  down  the  steps,  and  fell  forward  on  the 
ground."  When  he  returned  to  consciousness,  the  images  of  death  and  the 
rites  of  witchcraft  had  vanished,  and  he  awoke  among  the  soft,  sweet,  and 
tranquil  scenery  of  a  summer  moonlight  night.  He  had  been  guided  to 
Fairyland  during  his  trance,  and  the  vision  of  the  Fairy  camp,  pitched 
in  the  centre  of  a  circular  lawn,  "  whose  tint  and  softness  were  beyond 
compare,  and  which  seemed  to  have  been  lightly  brushed  by  fairy  feet," 
is  charming.  Not  many  minutes  elapsed  "  ere  he  discovered,  on  the 
border  of  the  lawn,  just  rising  above  the  wood,  and  floating  on  the 
bosom  of  the  air,  a  being  of  the  most  delicate  form ;  from  his  shoulders 
streamed  a  tunic  of  the  tenderest  blue,  his  wings  and  feet  were  clothed 
in  downy  silver,  and  in  his  grasp  he  had  a  wand  white  as  the  mountain 
snow.  He  rose  swiftly  in  the  air,  his  brilliance  became  excessive  from 
the  lunar  rays,  his  song  echoed  through  the  vault  of  night,  but  having 
quickly  diminished  to  the  size  and  appearance  of  the  evening  star,  it 
died  away,  and  the  next  moment  he  was  lost  in  ether.  Sir  Gawen  still 
fixed  his  eye  on  that  part  of  the  heavens  where  the  vision  had  dis- 
appeared, and,  shortly,  had  the  pleasure  of  again  seeing  the  star-like 
radiance,  which  in  an  instant  unfolded  itself  into  the  full  and  fine 
dimensions  of  the  beauteous  being,  who,  having  collected  dew  from  the 
cold  vales  of  Saturn,  now  descended  rapidly  towards  the  earth,  and 
waving  his  wand  as  he  passed  athwart  the  woods,  a  number  of  like  form 
and  garb  flew  round  him,  and  then,  shaking  their  wings,  which  spread 
a  perfume  through  the  air,  burst  into  one  general  song."  Then  fi-om 
the  wood  emerged  fairy  damsels  clad  in  white,  and  warlike  knights  in 
mail  of  tempered  steel,  and  in  the  centre  arose  a  throne  of  ivory  inlaid 
with  sapphires,  whereon  sat  a  form  of  exquisite  beauty ;  "  a  plain 
coronet  of  gold  obliquely  crossed  her  flowing  hair,  and  her  robe  of 


484  The  Piskies  of  Devon  and  Cornwall. 

white  satin  hung  negligent  in  ample  folds."  The  gold-crowned  Queen 
of  Faery  courteously  addresses  Sir  Gawen,  but,  just  as  the  knight  is 
about  to  reply,  she  fades  into  the  moonlight,  the  spirits  disappear,  and 
in  the  white  light  of  the  summer  dawn,  he  finds  himself  beside  his 
charger,  who  is  cropping  the  grass  by  the  side  of  a  public  thoroughfare. 
The  story,  of  which  I  have  selected  a  few  prominent  points,  is  striking, 
and  admirably  told,  and  deserves  to  be  more  generally  known,  as  one 
of  the  most  graphic  and  pictorial  of  our  legendary  superstitions. — Hal- 
li well's  Illustrations  of  Fairy  Mythology,  p.  77. 


The  Piskies  of  Devon  and  Cornwall. 

The  eminence  of  Sheepstor  is  the  favourite  haunt  of  the  Devonshire 
fairies,  the  Piskies,  where  a  cavity  in  a  granite  rock  is  called  the  Piskies' 
House.  Mrs.  Bray,  who  is  a  very  charming  authority  upon  pixies'  lore, 
tells  us  that  the  peasantry  who  venture  to  visit  this  mystic  place,  still 
drop  a  pin  as  an  offering  to  the  pixies ;  and  to  this  day  it  is  considered 
a  critical  place  for  children  to  enter  after  sunset.  The  pixies  are  de- 
scribed as  a  race  "  invisibly  small ;"  yet  in  the  vulgar  belief  they  may  be 
heaid  on  dark  nights  riding  the  horses  of  the  neighbouring  farmers,  and 
"  pounding  their  cider  within  his  cavern."  Polwhele  states  that  the 
Piskies'  house  was  selected  as  a  hiding-place  by  one  of  the  Elford 
family,  who  here  successfully  concealed  himself  from  Cromwell's 
troopers,  and  employed  his  leisure  time  in  painting  on  the  walls. 

Mr.  Couch  records  that  in  Cornwall  the  belief  in  the  little  folks  is 
far  from  dead. 

'  The  elves  of  hills,  brooks,  standing  lakes  and  groves" 

are  all  now  confounded  under  the  generic  name  of  pisky.  They  are 
little  beings  standing  midway  between  the  purely  spiritual  and  the 
material,  suffering  a  few  at  least  of  the  ills  incident  to  humanity.  They 
Viave  the  power  of  making  themselves  seen,  heard,  and  felt.  They  in- 
terest themselves  in  man's  affairs — now  doing  him  a  good  turn,  and 
anon  taking  offence  at  a  trifle,  and  leading  him  into  all  manner  of  mis- 
xhief.  The  rude  gratification  of  the  husbandman  is  construed  into  an 
insult,  and  the  capricious  sprites  mislead  him  on  the  first  opportunity, 
and  laugh  heartily  at  his  misadventures.  They  are  great  enemies  of 
Bluttery,  and  great  encouragers  of  good  husbandry.  When  not  singing 
and  dancing,  their  chief  nightly  amusement  is  in  riding  the  colts  and 
plaiting  their  manes,  or  tangling  them  with  the  sccd-vcsscls  of  the 


The  Piskies  of  Devon  and  Cornwall.  485 

burdock  of  a  particular  field  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  it  is  reported  that 
the  farmer  never  puts  his  horses  in  it  but  he  finds  them  in  the  morning 
in  a  great  deal  of  terror,  panting  and  covered  with  foam.  Their  form 
of  government  is  monarchical,  as  frequent  mention  is  made  of  the  king 
of  the  piskies.  We  have  stories  of  pisky  changelings,  the  only  proof 
of  whose  parentage  was  that  "they  didn't  goodey"  (thrive).  It  would 
seem  that  fairy  children  of  some  growth  are  occasionally  trusted  to 
human  care  for  a  time,  and  recalled  ;  and  that  mortals  are  now  and 
then  kidnapped,  and  carried  off  to  fairyland ;  such,  according  to  the 
nursery  rhyme,  was  the  end  of  Margery  Daw : — 

"  See-saw,  Margery  Daw 
Sold  her  bed,  and  lay  upon  straw  ; 
She  sold  her  straw,  and  lay  upon  hay, 
Piskies  came  and  carri'd  her  away." 

"A  disposition  to  laughter  is  a  striking  trait  in  their  character.  I  have 
been  able  to  gather  little  about  the  personalities  of  these  creatures.  My 
old  friend  before-mentioned,  used  to  describe  them  as  about  the  height 
of  a  span,  clad  in  green,  and  having  straw  hats  or  little  red  caps  on  their 
heads.  Two  only  are  known  by  name,  and  I  have  heard  them  addressed 
in  the  following  rhyme : — 

"  Jack  o'  the  lantern !  Joan  the  wad ! 
Who  tickled  tlie  maid,  and  made  her  mad. 
Light  me  home,  the  weather's  bad." 

•'  I  leave  the  stories  of  the  plsk'tes-kd,  of  which  this  neighbourhood 
can  furnish  %t\cva\  authentic  instances,  for  the  following  ancient  legends, 
all  careful  copies  of  oral  traditions: — 

"  Co/man  Grey, — A  farmer,  who  formerly  lived  on  an  estate  in  our 
vicinity,  was  returning  one  evening  from  a  distant  part  of  the  farm, 
ivhen  in  crossing  a  field  he  saw  to  his  surprise,  sitting  on  a  stone  in  the 
middle  of  a  pit,  a  miserable-looking  little  creature,  human  in  appearance 
though  diminutive  in  size,  and  apparently  starving  with  cold  and  hunger. 
Pitying  its  condition,  and  perhaps  aware  that  it  was  of  elfish  origin,  ana 
that  good  luck  would  amply  repay  him  for  his  kind  treatment  of  it,  he 
took  it  home,  placed  it  by  the  warm  hearth  on  a  stool,  and  fed  it  with 
nice  milk.  The  poor  bantling  soon  recovered  from  the  lumpish  and 
only  half  sensible  state  in  which  it  was  found,  and  though  it  never  spoke 
became  very  lively  and  playful.  From  the  amusement  which  its  strange 
tricks  excited,  it  became  a  general  favourite  in  the  family,  and  the  good 
folk  really  felt  very  sorry  when  the  strange  guest  quitted  them,  which 
he  did  in  a  very  unceremonious  manner.  After  the  lapse  of  three  or 
four  days,  as  the  little  fellow  was  gambolling  about  the  little  farm  kitchen, 


4^6  TJie  Piskies  of  Devon  and  CornwaU. 

a  shrill  voice  from  the  to'vjn-place,  or  farm-yard,  was  heard  to  call  threj 
times  '  Colman  Grey !'  at  which  he  sprang  up,  and,  gaining  voice, 
cried,  '  Ho  !  ho!  ho!  my  daddy  is  come!'  flew  through  the  key-hole, 
and  was  never  afterwards  heard  of." 

"  A  Voyage  with  the  Piskies. — About  a  mile  to  the  eastward  of  us  is 
a  pretty  bay,  on  the  shores  of  which  maybe  seen  the  picturesque  church 
of  Talland,  the  hamlet  of  Por tallow,  with  its  scattered  farmhouses,  and 
the  green  on  which  the  children  assemble  at  their  sports.  In  old  time, 
a  farm  lad  was  sent  to  our  village  to  procure  some  household  goods 
from  the  shop.  Dark  night  had  set  in  by  the  time  he  had  reached 
Sand-hill ;  on  his  way  home,  when  halfway  down  the  steep  road,  the 
boy  heard  some  one  say,  '  I'm  for  Poi tallow-green.'  As  you  are 
going  my  way,  thought  he,  I  may  as  well  have  your  company ;  and  he 
waited  for  a  repetition  of  the  voice,  intending  to  hail  it.  '  I'm  for 
Portallow-green,'  was  repeated  after  a  short  intei-val.  '  I'm  for  Port- 
allow-green,'  shouted  the  boy.  Quick  as  thought  he  found  himself  on 
the  Green,  surrounded  by  a  throng  of  little  laughing  piskies.  They 
were,  however,  scarcely  settled  before  the  cry  was  heard  from  several 
tiny  voices,  '  I'm  for  Seaton-beach,' — a  fine  expanse  of  sand  on  the 
coast  between  this  place  and  Plymouth,  at  the  distance  of  seven  miles. 
Whether  he  was  charmed  by  this  brief  taste  of  pisky  society,  or  taken 
with  their  pleasant  mode  of  travelling,  is  not  stated ;  but,  instead  of 
turning  his  pockets  inside  out,  as  many  would  have  done,  he  imme- 
diately rejoined,  '  I'm  for  Seaton-beach.'  Off  he  whisked,  and  in  a 
moment  found  himself  on  Seaton-beach.  After  they  had  for  awhile 
'danced  their  ringlets  to  the  whistling  winds,'  the  cry  was  changed  to 
'  I'm  for  the  King  of  France's  cellar,'  and  strange  to  say,  he  offered  no 
objection  to  so  long  a  journey.  '  I'm  for  the  King  of  France's  cellar !' 
shouted  the  adventurous  youth,  as  he  dropped  his  parcel  on  the  beach, 
not  far  from  the  edge  of  the  tide.  Immediately  he  found  himself  in  a 
spacious  cellar,  engaged  with  his  mysterious  companions  in  tasting  the 
richest  of  wines.  They  then  passed  through  grand  rooms,  fitted  up 
with  such  splendour  as  dazzled  the  lad.  In  one  apartment  the  tables 
were  covered  with  fine  plate  and  rich  viands,  as  if  in  expectation  of  a 
feast.  Though  in  the  main  an  honest  lad,  he  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  to  take  with  him  some  memorial  of  his  travels,  and  lie 
pocketed  one  of  the  rich  silver  goblets  which  stood  on  the  table.  After 
%  very  short  stay,  the  cry  was  raised,  '  I'm  for  Seaton-beach,'  which 
being  rejK'ated  by  the  boy,  he  was  taken  back  as  quickly  as  he  went, 
and  luckily  reached  the  beach  in  time  to  save  his  parcel  from  the 
flowing  tide. 


The  Piskies  of  Devon  and  Cornwall.  487 

"  The  next  destination  was  Portallow-green,  where  the  piskies  left 
our  wandering  traveller,  who  reached  home,  delivered  his  parcel  of 
groceries,  and  received  a  compliment  from  the  good  wife  for  his  dis- 
patch. '  You'd  say  so,  if  you  only  know'd  where  I've  been,'  said  he ; 
•  I've  been  wi'  the  piskies  to  Seaton-beach ;  and  I've  been  to  the  King 
of  France's  house;  and  all  in  five  minutes!'  The  farmer  stared,  and 
expressed  an  opinion  that  the  boy  was  mazed.  '  I  thought  you'd  say  I 
was  mazed,  so  I  breart  (brought)  away  the  mug  to  show  vor  et,'  he 
replied,  producing  the  goblet.  The  farmer  and  his  family  examined 
it,  wondered  at  it,  and  finished  by  giving  a  full  belief  to  the  boy's 
strange  story.  The  goblet  is  unfortunately  not  now  to  be  produced 
for  the  satisfaction  of  those  who  may  still  doubt ;  but  we  are  assured 
that  it  remained  the  property  of  the  lad's  family  for  generations  after." 
— Notes  and  Queries,  No.  291. 

Mrs.  Bray  (who  writes  the  word  "  pixy")  relates  that  near  a  Pixy 
field  at  Tavistock,  there  lived  an  old  woman  who  possessed  a  cottage 
and  a  very  pretty  garden,  wherein  she  cultivated  a  most  beautiful  bed 
of  tulips.  The  pixies,  it  is  traditionally  averred,  so  delighted  in  this 
spot,  that  they  used  to  carry  their  elfin  babies  thither,  and  sing  them  to 
rest.  Often,  at  the  dead  hour  of  the  night,  a  sweet  lullaby  was  heard, 
and  strains  of  melodious  music  floated  in  the  air,  and  seemed  to  owe 
their  origin  to  no  other  musicians  than  the  beautiful  tulips  themselves ; 
and  whilst  these  delicate  flowers  waved  their  heads  to  the  evening 
breeze,  it  seemed  as  if  they  were  marking  time  to  their  own  singing. 
As  soon  as  the  elfin  babies  were  lulled  asleep  by  such  melodies,  the 
pixies  returned  to  the  neighbouring  field,  and  there  commenced  dancing, 
making  those  rings  on  the  green  which  showed,  even  to  mortal  eyea^ 
what  sort  of  gambols  had  occupied  them  during  the  night. 

At  the  first  dawn  of  light,  the  watchful  pixies  once  more  sought  the 
tulips,  and,  though  still  invisible,  they  could  be  heard  kissing  and  caress- 
ing their  babies.  The  tulips,  thus  favoured  by  a  race  of  genii,  retained 
their  beauty  much  longer  than  any  other  flowers  in  the  garden,  which, 
though  contrary  to  their  nature,  as  the  pixies  breathed  over  them,  they 
became  as  fragrant  as  roses ;  and  so  delighted  at  all  this  was  the  old 
woman  who  possessed  the  garden,  that  she  never  suffered  a  single  tuli^ 
to  be  plucked  from  its  stem. 

At  length  she  died  ;  and  the  heir  who  succeeded  her  destroyed  th/> 
enchanted  flowers,  and  converted  the  spot  into  a  parsley-bed, — a  ciii. 
cumstance  that  so  disappointed  and  offended  the  pixies,  that  they  caused 
it  to  wither  away :  indeed,  for  many  years  nothing  would  grow  in  the 
beds  of  the  whole  garden.     But  these  sprites,  though  eager  in  resenting 


488  Biickland  Abbey. 

an  injury,  were,  like  most  warm  spirits,  equally  capable  of  returning  a 
benefit ;  and  if  they  destroyed  the  product  of  the  good  old  woman's 
garden  when  it  had  fallen  into  unworthy  hands,  they  tended  the  bed 
that  wrapped  her  clay  with  affectionate  solicitude,  for  they  wereheard 
lamenting  and  singing  sweet  dirges  around  her  grave ;  nor  did  they 
neglect  to  pay  this  mournful  tribute  to  her  memory  every  night  before 
the  moon  was  at  the  full ;  for  then  their  high  solemnity  of  dancing, 
singing,  and  rejoicing  took  place,  to  hail  the  queen  of  the  night  on 
completing  her  silver  circle  in  the  skies.  No  human  hand  ever  tended 
the  grave  of  the  poor  old  woman  who  had  nurtured  the  tulip-bed  for 
the  delight  of  these  elfin  creatures ;  but  no  rank  weed  was  ever  seen  to 
grow  upon  it ;  the  turf  was  ever  green,  and  the  prettiest  flowers  would 
spring  up  without  sowing  or  planting,  and  so  they  continued  to  do  till 
it  was  supposed  the  mortal  body  was  reduced  to  dust. 


Buckland  Abbey. 

Buckland  Abbey,  a  noble  ecclesiastical  foundation  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  became  after  the  dissolution  of  the  religious  houses  one  of 
the  most  notable  of  the  ancient  halls  of  England,  and  is  peren- 
nially interesting  as  having  been  the  favourite  residence  of  one 
of  the  greatest  of  England's  naval  heroes,  in  the  possession  of 
whose  descendants  it  remains  to  the  present  day. 

The  abbey,  charmingly  situated  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Tavy, 
about  four  miles  south  of  Tavistock,  was  built  by  the  Lady  Amicia, 
wife  of  Baldwin  de  Redvors,  Earl  of  Devon,  in  127S,  dedicated  to 
the  Virgin  Mary  and  to  St.  Benedict,  and  endowed  with  the  manor  of 
Buckland.  Of  the  fortunes  of  the  abbey,  as  such,  there  are  very 
few  facts  to  relate.  The  Countess  of  Devon  obtained  a  colony  of 
Cistercian  monks  from  Quarr  Abbey  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  for  the 
new  foundation,  and  these  monks  having  presumed  to  celebrate 
mass  and  exercise  their  functions  generally,  without  having  pre- 
viously obtained  the  license  and  approbation  of  Walter  Brones- 
combe,  bishop  of  Exeter,  were  subjected  to  excommunication  and 
suspension.  From  this  condition  of  disgrace  the  abbey  was  re- 
lieved at  the  solicitation  of  Queen  Eleanor.  The  Cistercians  stood 
firm  in  the  possession  of  their  endowments  for  270  years  ;  but  after 
the  dissolution  the  site  and  demesne  were  granted  (33rd  Henry 
VIII.)  to  Richard  Grcynfcld  or  Grcnville.    This  gentleman  built 


Biickland  Abdcy.  489 

here  a  **  faire  newe  house,  and  afterward  sold  it  to  Sir  Francis 
Drake,  the  famous  travailer,  which  made  it  his  dwelling-place." 

The  simple  fact  that  Buckland  Abbey  passed  into  the  hands  of 
Drake,  the  romantic  adventurer,  the  buccanier  whose  exploits,  daring 
and  gallant  in  themselves,  took  an  additional  hue  of  glory  from  the 
fact  that  they  were  performed  in  a  new  hemisphere,  on  unknown 
oceans,  and  in  the  presence  of  people  of  the  existence  of  whom 
even  the  learned  and  the  polite  of  that  day  were  unaware,  has  done 
more  to  preserve  this  ancient  pile  than  all  the  restorations  of  Sir 
Richard  Grenville  and  his  successors.  The  precise  date  at  which 
Drake  became  the  owner  of  Buckland  Abbey  has  not  been  recorded; 
but  we  are  certain  that  after  the  purchase  was  effected,  this  seat 
became  his  favourite  residence  in  those  intervals  of  his  career  which 
were  passed  in  England.  Here,  as  we  might  naturally  expect,  were 
to  be  seen  a  number  of  the  most  interesting  relics  of  the  great 
admiral,  including  a  fine  portrait  by  Jansen,  together  with  Drake's 
sword,  his  ship-drum,  and  the  Bible  which  he  carried  with  him 
round  the  world. 

Of  the  original  structure  of  the  abbey  the  remains  are  somewhat 
scanty.  The  old  building  sufi'ered  at  the  hands  of  Sir  Richard 
Grenville  in  its  conversion  from  an  abbey  to  a  private  residence. 
In  the  garret  of  the  existing  house,  built  by  Sir  Francis  Drake,  the 
four  large  arches  of  the  original  central  tower  of  the  church  are 
still  to  be  seen  close  under  the  roof.  Among  the  perfect  remains 
of  the  old  foundation  are  the  ancient  belfry  and  a  noble  barn,  180 
feet  long.  As  is  usually  the  case  with  respect  to  old  abbeys — the 
monks  had  a  singularly  happy  faculty  of  fixing  upon  beautiful  sites, 
which,  owing  to  their  command  of  horticultural  knowledge,  they  could 
enhance  by  artistic  taste — the  abbey  is  surrounded  by  delightful 
gardens,  including  an  orchard,  which,  according  to  tradition,  was 
the  first  planted  in  Devonshire.  The  orchards  of  the  county  are 
famous,  and  its  cyder  above  compare,  and  for  these  excellences  we 
are  mainly  indebted  to  the  care  and  skill  of  the  early  monks  in 
procuring  the  best  grafts  from  Normandy. 

The  connexion  of  the  great  Drake  with  the  old  Abbey  of  Buck- 
land  and  with  its  neighbourhood  is  by  no  means  limited  to  his 
ownership  of  the  manor.  Here  the  earliest  and  a  number  of  the 
latter  years  of  his  hfe  were  spent ;  and  on  the  waters  that  wash  the 
shores  of  this  county  were  achieved  many  of  those  triumphs  which 
make  his  life  read  more  hke  a  romance  than  a  sober  chronicle  of 
facts. 


490  Buckland  Abbey, 

Francis  Drake  was  bom  in  a  cottage  near  the  banks  of  the 
small  river  Tavy,  in  Devonshire,  about  the  year  1539.  Of  his 
parentage  absolutely  nothing  has  been  ascertained  beyond  doubt. 
Johnson  states  that  his  father  was  a  clergyman,  and  in  this  is  borne 
out  by  Prince's  "  Worthies  of  Devon,"  while  the  Biographia  Britan- 
«/<r«,upon  which  subsequent  biographers  of  Drake  have  largely  drawn, 
seems  to  leave  it  to  be  inferred  that  the  future  admiral's  father  was 
"one  Edmund  Diake,  an  honest  sailor,"  and  that  his  illustrious 
son  was  brought  up  under  the  care  and  at  the  expense  of  his  kins- 
man, Sir  John  Hawkins.  His  godfather  was  Sir  Francis  Russell, 
afterwards  Earl  of  Bedford.  According  to  a  curious  work,  "  The 
English  Hero  ;  or.  Sir  Francis  Drake  Revived,"  a  work  which  every 
writer  on  this  subject  quotes  with  respect,  young  Drake  "was 
brought  up  in  Kent — his  father  being  a  minister,  who  for  fear  of 
the  six  articles  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIH.,  was  forced  to  secure 
himself  in  the  hull  of  a  ship,  where  he  had  divers  of  his  younger 
sons,  having  twelve  in  all,  who  being  most  of  them  born  on  the 
water,  for  the  greatest  part  died  at  sea."  After  the  death  of  Henry 
VIH.,  the  father  of  Drake  obtained  an  appointment  to  read  prayers 
in  the  Royal  Navy.  He  was  afterwards  ordained  deacon  and 
made  vicar  of  the  church  of  Upnor,  on  the  river  Medway.  Con- 
tinuing poor,  however,  he  bound  his  eldest  son,  Francis,  to  a 
mariner  belonging  to  the  neighbourhood,  who  traded  with  his 
small  bark  to  France  and  Holland.  This  mariner  taught  Drake 
the  rudiments  of  the  sailor's  craft,  and  finding  the  youth  ingenious 
and  active,  took  such  a  liking  to  him,  that  (being  a  bachelor)  he  at 
his  death  bequeathed  his  small  vessel  to  his  pupil. 

For  some  time  Drake  continued  the  business  of  his  master;  but 
there  was  too  little  excitement  in  the  employment,  too  little  variety 
in  the  drudgery  of  continually  beating  for  small  profit  between 
England,  Holland,  and  France,  for  a  mind  so  aspiring  as  his.  He 
accordingly  sold  his  bark,  and  got  his  savings  together — the 
whole  amounting  to  a  considerable  sum.  This  estate  he  invested 
with  Captain  John  Hawkins,  and  joined  his  expedition  to  Guinea. 

Drake,  at  this  time  about  twenty-two  years  of  age,  was  appointed 
Captain  of  the  Judith.  In  the  fight  with  the  Spaniards  in  the 
harbour  of  St.  Juan  d'Ulloa,  the  young  captain  "made  a  great 
accession  to  his  reputation,  but  none  to  his  property,"  for  the  whole 
English  expedition,  being  circumvented  by  Spanish  treachery,  was 
compelled  to  withdraw,  leaving  their  goods  and  possessions  behind 
them. 


Buck  land  A  bhey.  49 1 

Such  a  misfortune  befalling  a  youth  at  the  commencement  of  his 
career  might  in  many  cases  have  proved  sufficiently  crushing  to 
divert  his  energies  into  another  channel  from  that  day  forth.  Not 
so  with  Drake.  He  was  told  that  he  would  be  perfectly  justified 
in  recovering  his  lost  wealth  by  making  reprisals  on  the  Spanish 
nation  generally.  "  To  make  him  satisfaction,  Mr.  Drake  was  per- 
suaded by  the  minister  of  his  ship  that  he  might  lawfully  recover 
the  value  from  the  King  of  Spain  by  reprisal,  and  repair  his  losses 
upon  him  anywhere  else.  The  case  was  clear  in  sea-divinity  ;  and 
few  are  such  infidels  as  not  to  believe  in  doctrines  which  make  fot 
their  profit  ;  whereupon  Drake,  though  then  a  poor  private  man, 
undertook  to  revenge  himself  upon  so  mighty  a  monarch."  With 
renewed  hope  and  with  resolution  nerved  and  braced  anew,  he 
gathered  around  him  a  number  of  wild  and  reckless  spirits,  and 
fitted  out  an  expedition  on  a  small  scale,  from  which  as  well  as 
from  several  subsequent  cruises,  he  returned  in  safety,  but  not  much 
enriched.  His  first  bold  and  daring  attempt  at  reprisal  was  made 
in  1572.  His  squadron  consisted  of  two  vessels  of  light  burthen — 
the  Pacha,  70  tons,  commanded  by  himself,  and  the  Swan,  25  tons, 
commanded  by  his  brother,  Mr.  John  Drake.  When  it  is  recol- 
lected that  these  diminutive  craft  were  intended  to  cope  with  im- 
mense Spanish  galleons,  the  floating  castles  of  the  sea,  of  from  800 
to  icxDO  tons  burthen,  Drake's  project  seems  on  the  face  of  it  wild 
and  visionary.  But  the  thoughtful  commander  had  also  taken  with 
him  a  number  of  pinnaces  in  frame,  ready  to  be  fitted  together 
without  delay  when  required  for  action  ;  and  it  was  in  these  vessels, 
and  not  in  the  Pacha  and  Swan,  that  his  anticipated  operations 
were  to  be  conducted.  The  expedition  set  sail  in  May,  1572,  from  the 
Sound  of  Plymouth,  bound  for  Nombre  de  Dios,  then  the  granary 
of  the  West  Indies,  the  city  wherein  were  stored  the  golden  harvests 
brought  from  Peru  and  Mexico  to  Panama,  and  hoarded  up  till  they 
could  be  conveyed  into  Spain. 

Arrived  at  Port  Pheasant,  near  Santa  Martha,  Drake  here  fitted 
his  pinnaces  together,  and  prepared  for  his  descent  on  the  treasure- 
town.  This  was  effected  successfully  at  night,  and  with  the  loss  of 
only  one  man.  The  plunder  obtained  at  the  assault  of  Nombre  de 
Dios  consisted  of  silver  in  considerable  quantity  and  an  ample 
store  of  wines.  A  day  or  two  of  rest  for  Drake  (who  was  severely 
wounded  at  Nombre  de  Dios)  and  his  men,  and  then  up  anchor 
and  away  on  other  enterprises  and  conquests.  Prizes  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  EngUsh  adventurers.   Between  Cartagena  and  Toulon 


492  Biickland  A  bbey. 

they  "  took  six  frigates  laden  with  hogs,  hams,  and  maize  ;"  and, 
being  assisted  in  all  his  projects  by  the  friendly  Indians  of  the 
coast,  a  bark  bound  from  St.  Domingo  to  Cartagena,  and  richly 
laden,  was  the  next  prize,  and  a  day  or  two  afterwards  a  Spanish 
ship  of  90  tons,  laden  with  preserved  meats,  was  also  taken. 
Assisted  by  the  Indians,  or  Symerons  as  they  are  termed,  Drake 
took  the  town  of  Venta  Cruz  with  only  eighteen  Englishmen. 
Ascending  a  famous  tree  in  this  neighbourhood,  from  which  both  the 
North  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  "South  Sea"  might  be  plainly  seen,  the 
English  captain,  gazing  upon  that  sea  of  which  he  had  heard  such 
golden  reports,  solemnly  besought  God  "  to  give  him  life  and  leave 
once  to  sail  an  English  ship  in  those  seas  !"  A  "  recoe,"  or  caravan, 
of  fifty  mules,  each  carrying  three  hundred  pounds  weight  of  silver, 
and  some  bars  and  wedges  of  gold,  was  a  glorious  capture  which 
the  handful  of  fortune-seekers  made  on  the  route  between  Rio 
Francisco  and  Nombre  de  Dios.  Being  now  resolved  to  return  to 
England,  Drake  set  sail  with  such  a  favourable  wind  that  in  twenty- 
three  days  they  passed  from  Florida  Cape  to  the  Scilly  Isles,  and 
arrived  at  Plymouth  on  Sunday,  9th  August,  1573,  "during  sermon 
time."  The  news  of  Drake's  arrival  being  carried  into  the  church, 
the  people  rose  in  a  body  and  forsook  the  preacher  to  gaze  in 
wonder  and  admiration  upon  the  captain  and  his  weather-beaten 
men,  who  had  been  to  the  other  side  of  the  world  and  back  in  less 
than  fifteen  months. 

The  gallantry  of  Drake's  bearing  in  this  expedition,  his  generosity 
towards  his  men,  his  fertility  of  resource,  his  bravery  and  success, 
won  him  a  very  high  rank  in  popular  esteem.  After  his  return  he 
showed  little  impatience  to  enter  upon  another  similar  voyage  ;  but 
Ireland  being  then  in  a  state  of  rebellion,  he  fitted  out  three  frigates 
at  his  own  expense,  joined  the  English  under  the  Earl  of  Essex — 
father  of  the  famous  and  unfortunate  carl  who  suffered  some  years 
afterwards — and  there  performed  many  brilliant  acts,  especially  in 
capturing  forts.  This  visit  to  Ireland  led  directly  to  the  establish- 
ment of  Drake's  future  reputation,  in  bringing  him  acquainted  with 
Sir  Christopher  Hatton,  then  Vice-Chamberlain,  by  whom  he  was 
afterwards  introduced  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  This  august  lady  having 
been  informed  of  Drake's  success  against  Spain,  her  bitterest  enemy, 
gave  him  the  most  flattering  reception  and  encouraged  him  in 
the  career  he  had  chosen.  The  approval  of  her  Majesty  having  been 
won,  there  was  no  insuperable  obstacle  now  in  his  way,  and  he  was 
free  to  undertake  that  grand  expedition  that  has  rendered  his  name 


Buckland  Abbey.  493 

Jmrnortal.  He  recalled  the  incident  of  his  ascending  the  lofty  tree 
in  Panama,  and  beholding  from  its  branches  the  vast  Pacific  Ocean, 
or,  as  it  was  then  named,  the  South  Sea,  and  he  remembered  also 
the  fervid  prayer  he  had  breathed  for  life  and  leave  to  sail  across 
the  mysterious  waste  of  waters  with  Englishmen  in  an  English  ship. 
He  also  revised  his  account  with  the  Spaniards,  and  coming  to 
the  conclusion  that  they  were  still  somewhat  in  his  debt  for  the 
goods  be  had  lost  and  the  sufferings  he  had  undergone  at  St.  Juan 
d'Ulloa,  he  resolved  to  be  quits  with  the  Dons,  should  he  by  any 
chance  meet  any  of  their  treasure-ships  on  these  seas.  Unfolding 
his  project  at  Court,  it  was  received  with  approval ;  and  the  favour- 
ing breath  of  Queen  Elizabeth  herself  gave  impulse  to  his  bent  sails 
when  in  1577  he  set  out  upon  his  great  expedition. 

The  Queen's  permission  had  furnished  him  with  means,  and  his 
own  fame  had  drawn  around  him  more  than  a  hundred  and  sixty 
adventurous  spirits — gentlemen  and  sailors.  His  fleet  consisted  of 
five  vessels,  the  largest  being  100  and  the  smallest  15  tons  burthen. 
He  set  sail  on  the  15th  November,  and  entered  port  St.  Julian,  near 
the  Straits  of  Magellan,  on  the  29th  of  May  in  the  following  year. 
Before  the  close  of  September  he  had  passed  through  the  Straits  of 
Magellan  in  safety — he  being  the  third  navigator  that  had  per- 
formed the  dangerous  passage.  Two  of  his  ships  had  meantime 
been  stripped  of  their  provisions  and  turned  adrift  as  incumbrances  ; 
Captain  Winter  had  worked  another  of  the  vessels  through  the 
Straits,  but  had  returned  again  to  England  in  despair,  probably 
owing  to  the  violent  tempests  he  had  encountered  ;  and  Drake  now 
alone  with  his  own  ship,  which  he  had  named  the  Hind,  cruised 
northward  along  the  west  coast  of  South  America,  finding  a  glut  of 
booty  in  the  numerous  Spanish  vessels  which  he  met  and  captured, 
and  in  the  rich  treasures  of  stored  gold  and  silver  which  he  seized 
on  various  descents  which  he  made  upon  the  coasts. 

Thinking  to  find  a  passage  back  to  Europe  by  the  Atlantic  he 
sailed  north-west,  until,  arriving  in  lat.  48°  N.  his  crew,  now  dimi- 
nished in  numbers  and  suffering  from  sickness,  became  discouraged 
and  he  put  back  and  took  shelter  in  port  San  Francisco,  He 
established  friendly  relations  with  the  natives  here,  and  formally 
took  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the  Queen  of  England. 

After  resting  here  for  five  weeks  he  took  the  bold  resolution  t<i 
toUow  the  example  of  Magellan  to  strike  straight  across  the  Pacific 
and  reach  the  eastern  shores  of  Asia  by  the  Moluccas.  He  arrived 
at  Java  in  March,  and  proceeding  thence  on  his  way  homewara. 


494  Biickland  A  bbey. 

■with  a  crew  of  only  57  men,  and  with  no  more  than  ten  casks  of 
water  on  board,  he  doubled  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  on  the  3rd 
November  he  entered  the  port  of  Plymouth,  having  completely  cir- 
cumnavigated the  globe  in  the  space  of  two  years  ten  months  and 
twenty  days.  He  remains  distinguished  as  the  first  commander 
who  had  performed  this  great  achievement.  Columbus  had  dreamed 
of  this  wonderful  feat  of  sailing  round  the  world,  Magellan  had 
attempted  it,  but  was  killed  on  his  homeward  voyage,  and  after  its 
successful  accomplishment  by  Drake  it  was  attempted,  but  in  vain, 
by  several  navigators,  favoured  by  every  possible  advantage.  It 
was  no  wonder  then  that  Drake's  exploit  created  the  utmost  admi- 
ration and  enthusiasm.  How  difficult  it  is  to  estimate  the  moral 
and  the  practical  benefit  to  England  of  this  great  voyage  !  It  was 
one  of  those  acts  which  did  much  to  foster  if  not  to  create  the  naval 
spirit  in  the  English  race — that  love  of  the  sea  and  of  sea-adventure 
which  has  produced  our  Nelsons,  Collingwoods,  Dundonalds, 
Napiers,  and  Franklins.  And  the  substantial  and  material  good 
effected  by  Drake's  famous  expedition  at  once  showed  itself  in  the 
circumstance  that  now  Elizabeth  asserted  more  firmly  than  ever 
her  right  of  navigating  the  ocean  in  all  its  parts,  and  denied  the 
exclusive  right  which  the  Spaniards  claimed  over  the  seas  and  lands 
of  the  New  World.  Drake's  gallant  deed  had  presented  England 
with  the  freedom  of  the  ocean,  and  from  this  date  onward  Britain 
assumed  the  rank  of  the  first  naval  power  of  the  world. 

After  a  most  gracious  reception  at  Court,  Drake  had  the  honour 
of  entertaining  Queen  Elizabeth  at  a  banquet  on  board  his  now 
renowned  vessel,  which  her  Majesty  nad  ordered  to  be  drawn  up  in 
a  creek  at  Dcptford,  there  to  be  preserved  as  a  monument  of  the 
most  memorable  voyage  that  an  English  crew  had  ever  performed. 
It  was  on  the  occasion  of  this  banquet  that  the  Queen  knighted  the 
famous  captain  on  his  own  deck. 

From  the  course  of  events  during  the  few  years  prior  to  the  date 
of  Drake's  return,  it  was  clear  that  the  hatred  and  jealousy  existing 
between  Spain  and  England  would  result  in  open  war.  The  de- 
claration of  hostilities  at  length  came,  and  Drake  was  appointed 
commander  of  a  fleet  of  twenty  sail,  and  commissioned  to  strike  at 
he  Spaniards  in  the  region  where  he  had  so  often  spread  panic 
amongst  them — the  West  Indies.  Success  followed  his  flag 
wherever  he  sailed,  and  any  circumstantial  account  of  this  and  his 
subsequent  services  would  simply  be  a  repetition  of  successes  sin'dlar 
to  those  we  have  noted  as  distinguishing  his  earlier  ventures. 


Bitckland  Abbey.  495 

The  preparations  of  the  King  of  Spain  for  the  invasion  of  England 
having  become  known,  Elizabeth  placed  a  fleet  of  thirty  sail  under 
Drake's  command,  the  instructions  being  to  intercept  King  Philip, 
pillage  his  coasts,  and  destroy  his  shipping  in  harbour.  The  cap- 
ture of  a  Spanish  ship  at  Cadiz,  richly  laden  ;  the  burning  of  10,000 
tons  of  shipping  in  Cadiz  harbour,  laden  with  ammunition  and 
naval  stores  ;  the  destruction  of  the  principal  ship  of  the  Spanish 
Admiral,  the  Marquis  of  Santa  Croce;  the  capture  of  the  castle  of 
Cape  St.  Vincent  and  its  three  fortresses  ;  and  the  capture  of  a  car- 
rack,  or  treasure-ship  from  the  East  Indies,  were  the  main  incidents 
of  this  short  expedition,  in  which  Drake  taught  the  English  to  de- 
spise the  unwieldy  ships  of  the  Spaniards,  inspired  them  with  self- 
reliance  and  a  knowledge  of  their  own  resources,  and  retarded  the 
preparations  for  the  famous  Armada.  This  expedition  illustrates 
specially,  as  the  whole  career  of  Drake  illustrates  generally,  the 
fact  that  this  commander  was  really  the  father,  so  to  speak,  of 
English  commerce  as  far  as  the  East  and  West  Indies  are  concerned. 
Alluding  to  the  capture  of  the  "carrack"  just  mentioned,  a  con- 
temporary writer  says — "  The  taking  of  this  ship  was  of  a  greater 
advantage  to  the  English  merchants  than  the  value  of  the  cargo  to 
the  captors  ;  for  by  the  papers  found  on  board  they  so  fully  under- 
stood the  rich  value  of  the  Indian  merchandise,  and  the  manner  of 
trading  into  the  Eastern  world,  that  they  afterwards  set  up  a  gain- 
ful traffic,  and  established  a  company  of  East  India  Merchants." 
From  the  establishment  of  this  company  of  merchants  what  vast 
results  have  accrued ! 

In  the  year  1588  Drake  distinguished  himself  as  Vice-admiral, 
under  Lord  Howard  of  Effingham,  in  defence  of  his  country  against 
the  invasion  of  the  "  Invincible"  Spanish  Armada.  The  incidents 
of  the  total  and  disastrous  discomfiture  of  the  Armada  are  matter  of 
history  known  to  all,  and  we  need  only  refer  to  the  good  fortune 
•which  Drake  met  with  in  this  as  in  most  other  of  the  expeditions 
in  which  he  was  engaged.  A  large  galleon,  carrying  55,000  ducats, 
fell  behind  the  rear  of  the  Spanish  fleet  and  was  taken  by 
this  commander.  The  money  he  generously  divided  among  his 
seamen  and  soldiers.  Another  "  great  ship  of  Biscay "  also  carry- 
ing much  Spanish  treasure  fell  into  his  hands. 

After  some  little  time  spent  at  home  in  the  parliamentary  repre- 
sentation of  Tavistock,  Drake,  joining  with  Hawkins,  represented  to 
Queen  Elizabeth  that  the  place  for  striking  a  blow  at  the  gigantic 
power  of  Spain  most  advantageously  was  the  West  Indies  ;  and  an 


49^  Buckland  Ahhcy. 

expedition  was  set  on  foot,  the  sea  forces  to  be  commanded  by  Drake 
and  Hawkins,  and  the  land  forces  by  Sir  Thomas  Baskerville  and  Sir 
Nicholas  Clifford,  There  were  too  many  heads  to  this  expedition, 
counsels  clashed,  time  and  effort  were  wasted,  and  the  enterprise 
failed.  Hawkins  died  at  Puerto  Rico,  it  is  said  of  a  broken  heart. 
But  the  undertaking  had  been  an  inauspicious  one  all  through.  By 
the  capture  by  the  Spaniards  of  one  of  Drake's  smallest  vessels,  the 
plans  of  the  English  commander  were  made  known  to  his  enemies 
and  all  his  schemes  consequently  defeated  more  or  less  completely. 
Drake  was  unaccustomed  to  failure — he  could  break  but  not  bend, 
and  when  the  disease  that  had  broken  out  among  his  men  seized 
him  he  succumbed  after  twenty  days'  illness  to  his  malady  and  to 
the  grief  caused  by  his  reverses,  and  died  on  the  27th  of  December, 
1595.  His  body  received  a  sailor's  funeral  off  the  shores  of  Puerto 
Eello,  which  he  himself  had  years  before  taken  and  plundered. 


CORNWALL. 
Mount  St.  Michael. 

••  Mountain,  the  curious  Muse  might  love  to  gastt 

On  the  dim  record  of  thy  early  days  ; 

Oft  fancying  tliat  she  heard,  Uke  the  low  blast. 

The  sound  of  mighty  generations  past. 

Here  the  Phoenician,  as  remote  he  sailed 

Along  the  unknown  coast,  exulting  hailed  ; 

And  when  he  saw  thy  rocky  point  aspire. 

Thought  on  his  native  shores,  of  Aradus  or  Tyre. 

Thou  only,  aged  mountain,  dost  remain  ! 

Stern  monument,  amidst  the  deluged  plain. 

And  fruitless  the  big  waves  thy  bulwarks  beat, 

The  big  waves  slow  retire,  and  murmur  at  thy  feet. " 

Bowles. 

This  beautiful  and  romantic  spot  is  situated  on  the  southern  coast 
of  Coinwall,  immediately  opposite  the  little  market  town  of  Marazion, 
and  about  three  miles  and  a  half  from  Penzance.  The  Mount  itself  is 
about  231  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  exclusive  of  the  buildings 
with  which  it  is  crowned.  Its  magnitude  is  seen  in  the  most  impres- 
Bive  point  of  view  from  its  base,  for  when  observed  from  a  distance,  its 
form  appears  trifling,  amidst  the  vast  expanse  of  waters  with  which  it 
is  surrounded. 

A  narrow  neck  of  land,  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length, 
connects  it  with  the  main  land:  this  natural  causeway  is  passable  at 
lov\'  water  to  foot  passengers  and  carriages,  but  at  high  tide  is  com- 
pletely covered  by  the  sea.  The  Mount  is  supposed  by  some  writers 
to  have  been  originally  surrounded  by  a  dense  forest,  which  idea  is 
strengthened  by  the  remains  of  trees  having  been  discovered  in  its 
neighbourhood,  at  the  time  of  an  extraordinary  high  tide,  as  Borlase, 
the  historian  of  Cornwall,  relates,  and  also  from  its  Cornish  name, 
Carakh-ludgh  en  /uz  (The  Grey  Rock  in  the  wood). 

It  is  supposed  to  be  the  island  called  Ictij  by  Diodorus  Siculus,  and 
other  ancient  authors,  from  which  the  Gauls  and  other  nations  of  the 
Continent  fetched  the  tin,  which  Cornwall  was  known  to  produce, 
even  in  those  early  ages.  As  far  back  as  1070,  we  find  it  the  site  of  2 
priory  of  Benedictine  monks.    After  the  Norman  Conquest,  it  wae 

*  K  K 


49^  Mount  St.  Michael 

bestowed  upon  Robert,  Earl  of  Mortaigne,  who  made  it  a  cell  (chapel) 
to  the  Abbey  of  St.  Michael,  in  Normandy. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fom'teenth  century,  when  the  alien  priories 
were  suppressed,  an  exception  was  made  in  favour  of  St.  Michael,  on 
condition  of  the  same  tribute  being  paid  to  the  English  Crown  as  was 
formerly  remitted  to  its  parent  abbey. 

The  Mount  is  said  to  have  been  regarded  with  religious  reverence  as 
early  as  the  fifth  century.  In  the  dark  ages  it  was  much  resorted  to  as 
a  place  of  pilgrimage.  It  was  regarded,  also,  as  a  stronghold,  and  a 
Castle  was  built  upon  it. 

It  was  occasionally  occupied,  at  early  periods  of  our  histoiy,  as  a 
military  station.  During  the  captivity  of  Richard  Coeur  de  Lion  in 
Austria,  it  was  seized  by  Hugh  de  la  Pomeroy,  who  expelled  the  monks, 
and  fortified  the  place,  for  the  purpose  of  favouring  the  meditated 
usurpation  of  the  throne  by  Prince  John.  On  the  return  of  the  King, 
Pomeroy,  dreading  his  vengeance,  fled  Iiither  from  the  Castle  of  Berry 
Pomeroy,  and,  after  bequeathing  a  large  portion  of  his  lands  to  the 
monks,  caused  himself  to  be  bled  to  death,  after  which  the  Priory  was 
surrendered  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

During  the  XA^irs  of  the  Roses,  a  short  time  after  the  discomfiture  of 
Henry  VI.  at  Barnet,  John,  Earl  of  Oxford,  arrived  here  by  sea,  and 
having  disguised  himself  and  some  of  his  adherents  in  pilgrims'  habits, 
obtained  entrance,  overpowered  the  garrison,  and  lield  the  place  against 
the  forces  of  King  Edward,  until  he  obtained  honourable  terms  of 
capitulation.  The  Yorkists  besieged  the  place  for  several  months. 
Perkin  Warbeck  had  possession  of  the  C.?stle  for  awhile,  and  left  his 
wife  here  as  in  a  place  of  security.  Upon  the  suppression  of  the 
Monastery,  the  Mount  was  given  to  Humphrey  Arundcll,  of  Lanherne; 
and  when  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Cornish  insurgents  in 
1549,  the  possession  of  this  stronghold  was  obstinately  contested.  In 
the  Civil  War,  in  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  the  Mount  was  held  for  tiie 
Royalists  by  Sir  Francis  Bassett,  but  was  taken  by  the  Parliamentarians 
in  1646. 

In  Lcland's  time  there  were  houses  at  the  foot  of  the  Mount,  witli 
shops  for  fishermen;  but,  before  1700,  the  place  was  reduced  to  one 
cottage,  inhabited  by  a  widow.  In  1726-27,  Sir  John  St.  Aubyn  re 
Vuilt  the  pier,  from  which  the  place  increased.  The  ascent  of  the 
Mount  is  steep,  and  is  defended  by  two  small  batteries:  on  the  summit 
arc  the  remains  of  the  monastic  buiklings,  which  have  been  converted 
into  a  dweliing-liouse.  Formerly  the  iniiabitants  had  no  other  water 
than  rain-water,  collected  in  drains  {  but  on  sinking  a  well,  a  fuie  spring 


Tintagel  Castle.  499 

was  found,  at  the  depth  of  37  feet.  Specimens  of  tin  ore  are  said  to  be 
plentiful  all  over  the  Mount,  which  is  principally  composed  of  granite. 
Human  bones  are  frequently  dug  up  wherever  the  soil  was  deep  enough 
to  allow  of  interment. 

At  the  pix'scnt  time  the  monastic  remains  are  occupied  as  a  country 
scat ;  and,  although  the  rooms  are  very  small,  yet  its  delightful  situa- 
tion renders  it  a  desirable  residence  during  the  summer  months. 
The  dining-room  was  formerly  the  refectory  of  the  Convent,  and 
contains  a  curiously-carved  frieze,  representing  hunting  subjects.  It 
was  formerly  femous  for  a  fine  peal  of  bells,  which  have  now  entirely 
disappeared. 

At  one  of  the  angles  of  the  tower  at  the  Mount  is  to  be  seen  the 
carcass  of  a  stone  lantern,  in  which,  during  the  fishing  season,  and  in 
dark,  tempestuous  nights,  it  may  reasonably  be  supposed  that  the  monks, 
to  whom  the  tithe  of  such  fishery  belonged,  kept  a  light  as  a  guide  to 
sailors,  and  a  safeguard  to  their  own  property.  This  lantern  is  now 
vulgarly  denominated  St.  Michael's  Chair,  since  it  will  just  admit  one 
person  to  sit  down  in  it :  the  attempt  is  not  without  danger ;  for  the 
chair,  elevated  above  the  battlements,  projects  so  far  over  the  precipice, 
that  the  climber  must  actually  turn  the  whole  body  at  that  altitude  in 
order  to  take  a  seat  in  it ;  notwithstanding  the  danger,  however,  it  is  often 
attempted  ;  indeed,  one  of  the  first  questions  generally  put  to  a  stranger, 
if  married,  after  he  has  visited  the  Mount,  is — Did  you  sit  in  the  chair? 
■ — for  there  is  a  conceit,  that  if  a  married  woman  has  sufficient  resolu- 
tion to  place  herself  in  it,  it  will  at  once  invest  her  with  all  the  regalia 
of  petticoat  government ;  and  that  if  a  manied  man  sit  in  it,  he  will 
thereby  receive  ample  powers  for  the  management  of  his  wife.  This  is 
probably  a  remnant  of  monkish  fable,  a  supposed  virtue  conferred  by 
some  saint,  perhaps  a  legacy  of  St.  Keyne,  for  the  same  virtue  is  attri- 
buted to  her  well : 

"  The  person  of  that  man  or  wife 
Whose  chance  or  choice  attains. 
First  of  this  sacred  stream  to  drink. 
Thereby  the  mastery  gains." 


Tintagel  Castle. 

Bosfiiney  is  situated  on  a  wild  bleak  part  of  the  northern  coasi  of 
Cornwall,  and  appears  formerly  to  have  been  a  place  of  some  im- 
portance.   Leland  speaks  of  it  as  having  "  beene  a  bygge  thing  of  a 


50O       Memorials  of  King  Arthur  in  Cormvall. 

fischar-towne,  and  having  great  advanttages  graunted  unto  it.  A  man 
may  see  there  the  ruines  of  a  greate  number  of  houses." 

Near  this  place  is  the  Castle  of  Tintagel,  supposed  to  have  been  the 
birthplace  of  the  famous  King  Arthur.  Built  on  a  high  rock  that  juts 
out  into  the  sea,  by  virhich  it  is  nearly  surrounded,  this  fortress  must 
have  been  a  place  of  considerable  strength.  Both  Norden  and  Carew 
speak  of  it  as  almost  inaccessible ;  and  Leland  calls  it  "  a  marvellous 
strong  and  notable  fortress,  and  almost  situ  loci  inexpugnabile"  In  his 
time  a  chapel  seems  to  have  occupied  part  of  the  site  of  the  Keep, 
which  he  calls  the  dungeon  of  St.  Ulette,  alios  Ulianne. 

The  Church  of  Tintagel  is  supposed  by  the  author  of  the  Magna 
Britannia  to  have  been  appropriated  to  the  Abbey  and  Convent  of 
Fontevrault,  in  Normandy,  and  that  having  passed  in  the  same  manner 
as  Leighton  Buzzard,  in  Bedfordshire,  it  was  given  by  Edward  IV.  to  the 
collegiate  church  of  Windsor ;  the  dean  and  chapter  are  the  patrons. 

King  Arthur's  Castle  and  King  Arthur's  Cliffs  have  of  late  years 
been  much  frequented  by  painters  and  litterateurs,  and  the  artistic 
tastes  of  the  vicar  of  the  parish  have  led  to  much  kindly  intercourse 
between  him  and  the  visitors  to  the  place.  An  effort  on  his  part  to 
restore  his  ancient  church  has  called  forth  contributions  fi-om  several 
artists,  who  have  specially  charged  themselves  with  the  care  of  the 
north,  or,  as  it  will  be  henceforth  named,  the  Painters'  Transept. 


Memorials  of  King  Arthur  in  Cornwall. 

Our  island  abounds  with  sites  associated  with  the  fame  of  this  cele- 
brated British  chief;  two  of  which  are  in  Cornwall,  where  Arthur 
closed  his  chivalric  career. 

P'irst  is  Slaughter  Bridge,  so  called  from  its  having  been  the  scene  of 
two  desperate  battles — one  between  King  Arthur  and  his  nephew  Mor- 
dred,  in  542  ;  and  the  other  between  tiie  Britons  and  Saxons,  in  823.  It 
lies  about  one  mile  north  of  Camciford,  on  the  river  Camel,  and  three 
miles  cast  of  King  Arthur's  Castle,  and  St.  Knighton's  Kieve,  at 
Tintagel.  Here,  tradition  says,  Arthur  was  mortally  wounded  by 
Mordrcd ;  and  a  little  further  on,  where  a  bridge  of  flat  stones  is  placed 
upon  uprights  across  the  stream,  the  bloodiest  scene  of  the  battle  is  said 
to  have  occurred.  From  this  circumstance  it  has  come  down  to  us  as 
"  Slaughter  Bridge." 

At  about  150  yards  north-east,  on  the  same  river  (Camel),  tradition 
points  to  a  spot  as  King  Arthur's  grave,  where  tcmporarilv  his  remains 


Bodmin,  and  its  Monasteries,  501 

were  deposited,  and  removed  hence  to  Glastonbury  for  interment.  Mr, 
Davies  Gilbert,  in  his  Hutory  ofCorniuall,  says  of  this  locality: — "  At 
the  head  of  this  river,  Alan  or  Camel  (from  Cabmalan,  the  crooked 
river),  is  a  little  village,  formerly  Kambton,  in  the  opinion  of  Leland, 
vi'ho  tells  us  that  Arthur,  the  British  Hector,  was  slain  here  ;  for,  as  he 
adds,  pieces  of  armour,  rings,  and  brass  furniture  for  horses  are  some- 
times digged  up  here  by  the  countrymen  ;  and  after  so  many  ages,  the 
tradition  of  a  bloody  victory  in  this  place  is  still  preserved.  There  are 
also  extant  some  verses  of  a  Middle- Age  poet  about  the  Camel  running 
w^ith  blood  after  the  battle  of  Arthur  against  Mordred.  The  follow- 
ing are  the  lines  alluded  to : — 

"  The  river  Camel  wonders  that 
His  fountaines  nature  showes 
So  strange  a  change  the  bloody  stream* 
Of  swelling  ouerflowes. 
His  both  side  banks,  and  to  the  sea 
The  slaughtered  bodies  beares ; 
Full  many  swimme,  and  sue  for  ayde 
While  wave  their  life  outweires. 

"  In  the  meantime,  not  to  deny  the  truth  of  this  story  concerning 
Arthur,  I  have  read  in  '  Marianus,' mentioned  also  in  the  Saxon  Chronicle, 
of  a  bloody  battle  here  between  the  Britons  and  Saxons,  in  the  year 
820,  so  that  the  place  may  seem  to  be  sacred  to  Mars  ;  and  if  it  be  true 
that  Arthur  was  killed  here,  the  same  shore  both  gave  him  his  first 
breath  and  deprived  him  of  his  last.  Harrison  also  saith  '  that  to  this 
day  men  that  do  eare  (till)  the  ground  there  do  oft  plough  up  bones 
of  a  large  size,  and  great  store  of  armour ;  or  else  it  may  be  (as  I  rather 
conjecture)  that  the  Romans  had  some  field  or  centra  thereabout,  for 
not  long  since  (and  in  the  remembrance  of  men)  a  brass  pot  full  of 
Roman  coins  was  found  there,  as  I  have  often  heard.'  Carew,  another 
historian  of  Cornwall,  writes :  '  Upon  the  river  Camel,  neare  to  Camel- 
ford,  was  the  last  dismal  battel  strooken  between  the  noble  King  Arthur 
and  his  treacherous  nephew  Mordred,  where  the  one  took  his  death 
and  the  other  his  death's  wound.  For  testimony  whereof  the  olde  folke 
thereabout  will  show  you  a  stone,  bearing  Arthur's  name,  though  now 
depraved  to  A  try.'  " 

Bodmin,  and  its  Monasteries. 

Bodmin,  or  Bodman,  in  Cornish  Bosuennar,  or  Bosuenna,  "The 
Houses  on  the  Hill,"  and  in  some  of  the  ancient  charters  called  Bos- 
nana  and  Bodminian,  "  the  Abode  of  the  Monks,"  owes  its  origin  to 
the  circumstance  of  St.  Petroc  having  taken  up  his  abode  in  the  Talley 


502  Bodmin,  and  its  Monasteries. 

occupied  by  the  present  town,  about  the  year  520.  That  saint,  to 
whom  St.  Guron,  a  solitary  recluse,  had  resigned  his  hermitage,  greatly 
enlarged  it  for  the  residence  of  himself  and  three  other  devout  men, 
who  accompanied  him  with  the  intention  of  leading  a  monastic  life, 
according  to  the  rules  of  St.  Benedict.  St.  Petroc,  who  died  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixth  century,  was  buried  here;  and,  according  to 
William  of  Worcester  and  Leland,  his  shrine  was  preserved  in  a  small 
chapel  to  the  east  of  Bodmin  Church.  The  hermitage  was  inhabited  by 
Benedictine  monks  till  936,  when  King  Athelstane  founded  a  Priory 
near  the  site  of  the  old  hermitage.  This  Monastery  soon  fell  into  disuse, 
and  its  large  possessions  were  seized  by  Robert,  Earl  of  Moreton  and 
Cornwall ;  and  after  the  death  of  his  son  William,  they  became  the 
property  of  the  Crown.  Having  passed  through  various  hands,  and 
been  alternately  inhabited  by  Benedictine  and  St.  Augustine  monks, 
nuns,  and  secular  priests,  the  Monastery  was  granted  to  one  Algar,  who, 
with  the  licence  of  William  Warlowast,  Bishop  of  Exeter,  refounded 
the  Monastery  in  11 25,  and  filled  it  with  Austin  canons,  who  con- 
tinued in  it  till  the  Dissolution.  The  last  Prior  was  Thomas  Vivian, 
alias  Wannyworth :  an  award  in  his  time  shows  that  the  Convent  re- 
ceived considerable  benefit  from  the  tin  works  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Among  other  privileges,  the  Prior  held  a  market  and  a  fair,  and  pos- 
sessed a  pillory,  gallows,  &c. ;  fiom  the  latter  of  which  it  may  be  in- 
ferred that  he  had  the  power  of  inflicting  capital  punishment. 

The  site  of  the  Monastery,  with  its  large  demesnes,  was  granted  to 
Thomas  Sternhold,  one  of  the  first  translators  into  English  metre  of 
the  Psalms  of  David,  and  was  subsequently  purchased  by  some  of  the 
Rashleigh  family.  Some  antiquaries  have  supposed  that  Bodmin  was 
the  primary  seat  of  the  Bishop  of  Cornwall,  who  resided  here  from 
905  till  v)8i,  when  the  town  and  church  having  been  burned  and 
sacked  by  the  Danes,  they  removed  to  St.  Germans.  But  Whitaker 
has  shown  that  the  see  was  founded  as  early  as  614,  and  that  St. 
Germans  was  made  the  original  scat  of  it ;  though  he  asserts,  on  the 
authority  of  a  grant  from  King  Ethelred,  that  the  Monastery  of  Bodmin 
was  annexed  to  St.  Germans,  and  that  both  these  places  continued  to 
give  a  title  to  future  prelates  until  tiic  annexation  of  the  bishopric  of 
Cornwall  to  that  of  Crcditon,  in  Devon,  in  1031,  about  twenty  yeari 
after  which  time  Exeter  was  made  the  head  of  the  diocese.  The  same 
writer  also  states  that  it  was  anotlicr  religious  house,  dedicated  to  St. 
Petroc,  at  Padstow,  that  was  burnt  by  the  Danes.  An  imperfect  im- 
pression of  the  Abbey  seal  is  attached  to  the  surrender  in  the  Augmen- 
tation Office.    In  its  area  the  Virgin  and  Infant  Jesus  and  St.  Petroc 


Latinceston  Castle.  503 

nre  represented  under  canopies  of  Gothic  tracery,  with  the  wjrda, 
••S.  Maria  et  S.  Petroc,"  below  them.  The  word  Bodmyn  is  all  that 
is  left  of  the  legend  which  went  round. 

Some  centuries  ago,  Bodmin  must  have  been  a  place  of  considerable 
extent,  for  we  find  that  in  1351  no  less  than  1500  persons  died  of  the 
pestilence.  William  of  Worcester,  who  visited  Cornwall  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  IV.,  speaks  of  this  as  recorded  in  the  registry  of  the  friars; 
and  he  adds  that  during  the  same  year  there  died  in  various  parts  of  the 
world  13,883  persons  of  the  order  of  friars. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Bodmin  is  Halagaver  Moor,  where  a  low  kind  of 
festival  called  Bodmin  Riding,  was  formerly  held.  A  mayor  was 
elected,  before  whom  was  brought  some  person,  "  charged  with  wearing 
one  spur,  or  wanting  a  girdle,  and  some  such  like  felony,  and  after  he 
hath  been  arraygned  and  tried  with  all  requisite  circumstances,  judg- 
ment is  given  in  formal  terms,  and  executed  in  some  ungracious  prank, 
more  to  the  skorne  than  hurt  of  the  party  condemned.  Hence  is  sprung 
the  proverb,  when  we  see  a  man  slovenly  dressed,  '  He  shall  be  pre- 
sented in  Halagaver  Court.'  "  It  is  said  that  Charles  I.  once  rode  to 
Halagaver  Court.  Out  of  this  arose  the  custom  of  a  large  body  of 
the  populace  assembling  on  some  particular  day  in  July,  and  marching 
to  Halagaver,  some  on  horseback  and  some  on  foot,  carrying  garlands 
of  flowers. 

Near  Bodmin  is  the  celebrated  Scarlet's  Well,  which  was  supposed 
to  have  the  mimculous  power  of  curing  all  diseases.  "  Its  fame,"  says 
Carew,  "  grew  so  farre  and  so  fast,  that  folke  runne  flocking  thither  in 
large  numbers,  from  all  quarters ;  but  the  neighbouring  justices  finding 
the  abuse,  and  looking  into  the  consequences,  forbad  the  resort,  seques- 
tered the  spring,  and  suppressed  the  miracle."  It  is  certain  that  the 
water  of  this  well  is  uncommonly  pure,  and  its  specific  gravity  is  higher 
than  that  of  any  other  spring  water.  It  will  continue  the  best  of  the 
year  without  any  alteration  of  scent  or  taste,  only  then  you  see  it  repre- 
sent many  colours,  like  the  rainbow,  "  which,  in  my  conceite,"  saith 
Carew,  "  argueth  a  running  thorow  some  minerall  vein,  and  therewithal 

a  possessing  of  some  virtue." 

♦— — 

Launceston  Castle. 

Upon  the  area  of  a  hill,  whereon  stands  the  town  of  Launceston, 
anciently,  Dunheved,  or  the  Swelling  Hill,  are  the  remains  of  the 
Castle,  to  which  is  ascribed  the  most  remote  antiquity,  on  account  of 
its  dissimilarity  from  castles  built  by  the  Romans,  Saxons,  Danes,  or 


504  Launceston  Castle. 

Normans.  Launceston,  in  mixed  British,  signifies  the  Church  of  tne 
(Castle,  which  latter  structure  probably  gave  rise  to  the  town.  The 
remains  cover  a  considerable  extent  of  ground.  The  walls  are  from  lo 
to  1 2  feet  thick ;  the  covered- way  betwixt  the  walls  is  pierced  with 
narrow  windows,  yet  covers  the  communication  between  the  base  court 
and  the  Keep  or  dungeon,  which  is  built  on  a  lofty  taper  hill,  partly 
natural  and  partly  artificial,  320  feet  diameter,  and  very  high ;  the  Keep 
itself  is  93  feet  diameter. 

The  building  of  the  Castle  has  been  generally  attributed  to  William, 
Earl  of  Moreton  and  Cornwall,  the  son  and  heir  of  Robert,  Earl 
of  Moreton,  to  whom  288  manors  in  this  county  were  given  by 
William  the  Norman  The  workmanship  is,  however,  of  a  much  earlier 
date :  the  Keep,  in  particular,  is  inferred  to  be  in  foundation  as  remote 
as  the  time  of  the  Britons,  who  would,  undoubtedly,  endeavour  to  de- 
fend their  territory  both  from  Romans  and  Saxons  by  fortifying  the 
more  advanced  and  important  situations,  Leland  says :  "  The  hill  on 
which  the  Keep  stands  is  large  and  of  a  terrible  height,  and  the  ark^ 
ix..  Keep,  of  it,  having  three  several  wards,  is  the  strongest,  but  not 
the  biggest,  that  I  ever  saw  in  any  ancient  work  in  England."  About 
1540,  were  found  certain  leather  coins  in  the  Castle  walls,  which,  had 
they  been  preserved,  or  their  impressions  copied,  might  have  thrown 
some  light  on  the  age  of  the  building,  as  money  of  similar  substance  was 
employed  by  Edward  I.  in  erecting  Carnai-von  Castle,  in  Wales,  "to 
spare  better  bullion."  Some  Roman  coins  have  been  found  at  Launceston, 
so  that  it  is  not  all  unlikely  that  the  Romans  had  possession  of  this 
fortress,  which  (from  its  situation  near  the  ford  of  the  river  Tamar) 
was  a  fort  of  great  importance.  The  earliest  history  known  of  the 
Castle  mentions  the  displacing  of  Ot'.iomarus  de  Knivet,  its  hereditary 
constable,  for  being  in  arms  against  the"^Con?TITeror\  "It  was  then,  as 
BefbmtTentioned,  given  to  Robert,  Earl  of  Moreton,  whose  son  Wil- 
liam kept  his  court  here.  From  him  it  reverted  to  the  Crown,  but 
continued  attached  to  the  Earldom  of  Cornwall,  till  uth  Edward  IIL, 
when  it  constituted  part  of  the  inheritance  of  the  Duchy,  which  it  still 
continues.  In  Leland's  time,  several  gentlemen  of  the  county  held  their 
lands  by  Castle-guard,  being  bound  to  repair  and  defend  the  fortifica- 
tions of  this  Castle.  During  the  Civil  Wars,  the  fortress  was  garri- 
eoned  for  King  Charles ;  and  it  was  one  of  the  last  supports  of  the 
royal  cause  in  this  part  of  the  country.  There  is  still  enough  left  to 
enable  us  to  trace  the  stratagems  of  war  in  the  mounds  and  lines  0/ 
Dunhcved  or  Launceston  Castle. 


505 


The  Priory  of  St.  Germans. 

St.  Germans  was  at  a  remote  period  the  seat  of  a  bishopric,  which 
was  afterwards  united  with  that  of  Crediton,  and  from  this  union  arose 
the  see  of  Exeter.  Athelstane,  King  of  England,  had  established  there  a 
college  of  priests,  who  were  afterwards  made  canons  of  the  Order  of 
St.  Augustine;  and  the  manor  of  St.  Germans  was  divided  between 
the  Priory  thus  formed  and  the  Bishop  of  Exeter.  The  conventual 
church,  now  used  as  a  parish  church,  was  formerly  much  more  exten- 
sive. The  seat  of  the  Earl  of  St.  Germans,  called  Port  Eliot,  occupies 
the  site  of  the  ancient  Priory. 

The  site  and  other  lands  were  at  the  Dissolution  leased  to  John 
Champernowne  and  others,  and  afterwards  granted  in  fee,  in  considera- 
tion of  a  sum  of  money,  to  Catherine,  widow  of  John,  and  to  two  other 
persons.  Champernowne  is  said  to  have  obtained  his  share  in  the 
monastic  plunder  by  a  trick  creditable  to  his  ingenuity  rather  than  to 
his  fairness.  Two  gentlemen  making  suit  to  the  King  for  these  lands, 
Champernowne,  then  in  attendance  at  court,  kneeled  behind  them  when 
they  kneeled  to  his  Majesty,  as  though  he,  Champernowne,  had  been  a 
party  to  the  petition,  joined  with  them  in  returning  thanks,  and  after- 
wards claimed  his  share,  which,  on  an  appeal  to  the  King,  was  allowed 
him.  From  the  Champemownes  the  estate  passed  to  the  Eliot  family, 
of  which  the  present  Earl  of  St.  Germans  is  the  representative. 


Carn-brea  Castle. 

Of  Castles  in  Cornwall,  intended  for  residence  as  well  as  defence,  is 
Karn-bre,  or  Carn-brea  Castle,  near  the  Land's  End.  This  is  very 
small,  scarcely  60  feet  long  by  10  wide,  built  upon  a  ledge  of  rock, 
whose  uneven  surface  has  caused  great  difficulty  in  the  level  of  the  rooms 
upon  the  ground-floor.  The  building  had  three  stories  in  some  parts, 
in  others  but  one.  Part  of  the  Castle  is  very  ancient  and  of  rude  archi- 
tecture ;  and  the  less  ancient  portion  is  thought  to  have  been  built  on 
older  foundations.  Carn-brea  Hill  abounds  with  antiquities:  there  are 
an  ancient  camp  of  irregular  form,  some  cairns,  and  other  antiquities  of 
rough  stone. 

The  country  people  tell  some  marvellous  tales  of  Carn-brea:  amotig 
others  that  a  giant  of  mighty  bone  lies  buried  beneath  it ;  and  a  block 
of  granite,  indented  into  five  nearly  equal  paits,  is  pointed  out  as  the 


5o6    SiLhtcrranean  Chambers  and  Bee-hive  Houses. 

hand  of  the  Goliath,  which,  protruding  through  the  surface,  has  been 
converted  into  stone.  This  hill  is  also  the  fabled  scene  of  a  combat 
between  his  satanic  majesty  and  a  troop  of  saints,  in  which  Lucifer 
was  tumbled  from  the  heights ;  the  rocky  boulders  having  been  on  this 
occasion  "  the  seated  hills,"  which  were  loosened  from  their  foundation 
and  used  as  missiles. 

Land's  End  is  a  vast  aggregate  of  Moorstone,  which  a  Cornish  poet 

has  thus  depicted  : — 

"  On  the  sea 
The  sunbeams  tremble,  and  the  purple  light 
Illumes  the  dark  Bolerium  ;  seat  of  storms. 
High  are  his  granite  rocks  ;  his  frowning  \yco4l 
Hangs  o'er  the  smiling  ocean.     In  liis  caves 
There  sleep  the  haggard  spirits  of  the  storm. 
Wild,  dreary  are  the  schistine  rocks  around 
Encircled  by  the  wave,  where  to  the  breeze 
The  haggard  cormorant  shrieks  ;  and  far  beyond. 
Where  the  great  ocean  mingles  with  the  sky, 
»         Are  seen  the  cloud-like  islands,  grey  in  mists." 

Sir  Humphry  Daxf, 


Subterranean  Chambers  and  Bee-hive  Houses 
in  Cornwall. 

It  !8  impossible  to  visit  the  western  part  of  the  Duchy  of  Cornwall 
without  being  struck  with  the  number  and  variety  of  pre-historic 
remains  which  surround  you  on  every  side.  There  is  scarcely  a  head- 
land which  is  not  traversed  by  its  lines  of  fortification  ;  there  is  scarcely 
a  hill  which  is  not  crowned  by  its  "caer;"  there  is  scarcely  a  down 
which  is  not  strewn  with  circlets,  and  cromlechs,  and  ruined  villages, 
of  which  not  only  the  owners,  but  the  very  names  themselves,  ha\i 
long  passed  away,  or  are  known  only  to  the  peasants  at  this  day  bj 
some  such  vague  appellation  as  "old  men's  workings." 

These  dwellings  are  generally  to  be  found  in  clusters,  and  are,  in 
many  cases,  sun'ounded  by  a  low  wall  or  bank  of  earth,  apparently  for 
purposes  of  defence.  Some  of  the  huts  are  oblong,  some  round.  The 
roofs  were,  probably,  in  most  cases,  once  composed  of  turf  or  wattles; 
although  in  some  of  the  circular  ones,  where  strength  or  durability  was 
aimed  at,  the  builder  completed  his  dome  with  granite,  and  formed  the 
structure  known  as  the  "  bee-hive"  hut. 

Beneath  three  of  these  villages,  namely,  those  at  Chysoster,  Bodinnar, 
and  Chapel  Euny,  subterranean  chambers  also  have  long  been  known  to 
exist,  and  doubtless  many  others,  if  not  destroyed,  have  yet  to  be  dis. 
covered.    Some  years   since,  the  careful   scrutiny  of  Mr.  Edmond^ 


Subterranean  Chambers  and  Bee-hive  Houses.    507 

author  of  "  The  Land's  End  District,"  discovered  in  a  hollow  of  the 
ground,  at  Chapel  Euny,  traces  of  the  '  bee-hive  construction.'  This 
fact  at  once  connects  such  caves  as  these  with  habitable  dwellings,  and 
clearly  shows  that  they  were  not  merely  secret  passages  to  and  from 
the  villages,  as  was  the  prevailing  opinion,  nor  storehouses  for  plunder 
or  grain,  as  the  "  skulking-holes  of  the  Danes"  are  said  to  have  been  in 
Ireland,  but  actual  dwelling-houses  of  the  Britons;  probably  the 
winter  quarters  of  the  inhabitants,  built  with  a  view  to  greater  strength, 
warmth,  and  security,  and  bearing  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
"  Picts'  houses"  of  Scotland  and  the  north  of  Britain.  "  Following 
up  the  discovery  of  Mr.  Edmonds,"  says  Mr.  Borlase,  "  I  have 
thoroughly  explored  one  of  these  caves,  and  the  discoveries  I  have 
made  since,  fully  confirm  me  in  the  opinion  which  the  bee-hive  con- 
struction at  once  suggested. 

"Many  other  caves  are  to  be  found,  within  the  distance  of  a  few 
miles,  which,  although  judging  from  the  similarity  of  their  construction 
we  cannot  assign  to  the  same  people,  yet  are  found  in  localities  where 
there  is  no  trace  of  a  village  ever  having  existed.  Such  caves,  inasmuch 
as  they  arc,  almost  invariably,  found  under  hedges  or  large  banks  of 
earth,  I  shall  venture  to  place  in  a  separate  class,  and  term  *  hedge 
caves.'  Two  of  the  most  remarkable  of  these  may  be  noticed  in 
passing — one,  at  Pondeen,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Just,  which  legend  con- 
nects with  an  Irish  lady,  who,  dressed  in  white,  and  bearing  a  red  rose 
in  her  mouth,  is  to  be  met  with  on  a  Christmas  morning  at  the  cave's 
mouth,  where  she  confides  to  you  tidings  brought  from  her  native  land 
tluough  the  submarine  recesses  of  that  mysterious  cavern;  and  another 
at  Bolleit,  in  the  parish  of  Buryan,  which  was  so  large  and  perfect  in 
the  time  of  the  Great  Rebellion,  that  Cavaliers  were  for  some  time 
concealed  there;  where,  like  the  prophets  of  old,  they  were  fed  by 
Mr.  Levellis,  of  Treewoof,  until  opportunity  offered  for  them  to  return 
to  the  King's  army. 

"  These  caves  consist  of  one  or  more  passage-chambers,  averaging 
from  4  to  7  feet  in  height,  faced  in  most  cases,  though  not  invariably 
so,  with  granite,  and  spanned  with  roofing  stones  of  the  same  material. 
The  entrances  to  the  chambers,  at  Pendeen  especially,  are  very  low. 
AVhat  the  design  of  the  inhabitants  really  was  in  building  structures  of 
this  kind  we  have  no  evidence  to  show.  Whether  they  were  intended 
for  dwellings  (as  those  under  villages  certainly  were),  or  whether  they 
were  simply  retreats  for  the  inhabitants  in  case  of  invasion,  or  for 
marauders  from  fear  of  justice,  is  a  question  which,  hitherto,  investiga- 
tion has  failed  to  explain. 


$08    Subterranean  Chambers  and  Bee-hive  Houses. 

**  Scarcely  a  mile  to  the  west  of  the  parish  church  of  Sancreed,  and 
situated  on  a  slope  commanding  a  most  extensive  view  of  the  western 
district  of  Cornwall,  stand  the  few  isolated  cottages  which  form  the 
hamlet  of  Chapel  Euny,  In  the  valley  beneath,  a  crystal  spring,  with  a 
few  pieces  of  broken  arch  by  the  side,  is  all  that  remains  of  the  ancient 
baptistry  fi-om  which  it  derived  its  name.  The  spot  itself  is  surrounded 
on  every  side  by  objects  of  interest  to  the  antiquary.  On  the  north- 
east lie  the  ruinous  mounds  which  once  were  Caer  Bran  {Anglice,  Castle 
Royal),  while  more  to  the  north  is  the  hill  of  Bartinne  (Hill  of  Lights), 
surmounted  by  a  vallum  enclosing  three  circles  of  stones.  In  the  west, 
again,  is  the  heap  on  which  once  stood  Chapel  Cam  Brea,  one  of  those 
lonely  hermitages  of  the  early  Irish  saints ;  and  in  the  valley  below  is  a 
most  curious  cone-shaped  barrow,  which  has  been  long  rifled  of  its 
contents. 

"Mr.  Borlase  then  describes  the  cave  as  a  small  enclosure  levelled  arti- 
ficially out  of  the  side  of  a  rocky  slope,  and  overgrown  by  fern  and 
furze,  in  which  may  be  seen  traces  of  four  circular  huts  or  pens,  while 
several  mounds  of  upright  stones  in  the  vicinity  mark  the  site  of  a  village 
of  some  considerable  extent.  In  one  instance  the  circular  walling  was 
distinctly  visible,  and  in  the  other  what  appeared  to  be  the  entrance  to  a 
chamber  leading  towards  the  circular  chamber,  the  walls  of  which  were 
formed  of  rough  granite  blocks,  rudely  but  solidly  fitted  together  with- 
out mortar ;  and  the  roofing- stones,  four  in  number,  were  occasionally 
supported  by  an  upright  stone  inserted  in  the  wall.  The  floor  was 
composed  of  the  hard  subsoil  of  the  country,  called  by  the  Cornish 
"  rabman,"  through  the  centre  of  which  runs  a  small  trench  or  drain, 
covered  over  with  paving-stones.  The  circular  chamber  must  have 
been  at  least  12  feet  in  height,  constructed  of  large  granite  blocks,  each 
overlapping  the  one  below  it,  and  so  gradually  approaching  each  other 
as  they  reached  the  top;  the  diameter  of  the  chamber  was  about  15 
feet. 

"  Branching  from  the  passage  chamber  was  another  long  chamber,  the 
floor  consisted  of  several  strata,  the  uppermost  being  composed  of 
what  appeared  to  be  decomposed  vegetable  matter,  and  the  lowest  of  a 
black  slimy  deposit,  while  the  intermediate  strata  contained  ashes,  burnt 
stones,  and  small  pieces  of  baked  clay.  From  the  latter  strata  the 
following  objects  were  taken : — 

"  One  small  piece  of  beautiful  red  pottery,  possibly  Samian. 

"  An  iron  crook  resembling  a  pot-hook,  much  corroded. 

"An  iron  spcar-hcad  2\  inches  long,  containing  a  fragment  of  wood 
in  the  socket,  and  omameated  <it  the  side  with  a  semi-circular  device. 


Subterranean  Chambers  and  Bee-hive  Houses.     509 

"  A  circular  perforated  stone,  an  annulet,  or  spindle-whorl,  i  inch  in 
diameter. 

"  Several  flat  pieces  of  a  corroded  substance. 

"  Numerous  pieces  of  a  white  metallic  concrete,  very  heavy ;  these 
from  the  lowest  stratum. 

"  Numerous  whetstones,  mullers,  ashes,  teeth  of  animals,  red  pottery 
very  coarse,  and  black  pottery  of  three  kinds,  all  very  rude,  and  appa- 
rently all  portions  of  vessels  of  domestic  use." 

Mr.  Borlase  adds  a  few  deductions : — 

"  I.  That  the  purpose  of  the  builders  was  to  construct  a  habitable 
dwelling  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  commodiousness  of  the  two  large 
chambers,  and  especially  by  the  presence  of  the  bee-hive  one,  which  is  a 
recognised  type  of  a  British  dwelling,  and  also  by  the  presence  of  the 
drains,  which  can  only  have  been  formed  with  a  view  to  the  comfort  of 
the  inmates. 

"  2.  That  these  chambers  luere  inhabited  is  as  clearly  pointed  out  by 
the  presence  of  ashes  and  charred  substances  on  the  floor,  as  well  as  of 
fragments  of  pottery  in  the  drains. 

"  3.  That,  the  objects  discovered  being  those  invariably  found  in 
Romano-British  settlements,  and  attributed  to  the  Celtic  people  at  that 
time,  this  cave  was,  therefore,  occupied  at  that  period,  although  the  ab- 
sence of  any  trace  of  the  use  of  any  implement  upon  the  walls  or  roof 
of  the  building  implies  that  the  use  of  iron  had  not  become  general 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  country  at  the  time  when  the  chambers 
were  built.  I  dwell  on  these  points  in  order  to  show  my  reasons  for 
differing  with  those  who  would  make  the  Cornish  caves  either  sepul- 
chres, such  as  those  described  by  Worsaae,  or  secret  entrances  to  forti- 
fications, as  many  in  Ireland  undoubtedly  are. 

"  That  the  earth  with  which  the  chambers  were  filled  was  placed 
there  at  a  very  early  date  is  evident  trom  the  discovery  amongst  it  of 
the  various  objects  above  mentioned,  and  that  the  persons  who  placed 
it  there  did  so  with  the  intention  of  effectually  blocking  it  up  is  equally 
clear  from  the  fact  of  the  large  stone  being  wedged  into  the  entrance  of 
the  small  chamber.  The  destruction  of  the  bee-hive  hut  was  possibly 
the  work  of  the  same  hands.  But  what  could  be  the  object  ot  these 
people  in  taking  so  much  pains  to  make  their  dwellings  uninhabitable  is 
inexplicable." — Abridged  from  the  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries^ 186& 

\ 


510 


Cornish  Hill  Castles. 

The  Land's  End  district,  of  small  extent,  is  bounded  on  the  east  by 
an  imaginary  line  drawn  from  Lelant  Church  southwards  to  Cuddan 
Point,  on  the  eastern  confines  of  Mount's  Bay,  and  in  other  directions 
by  the  sea.  Within  the  peninsula  thus  defined,  of  about  twelve  miles 
in  breadth  from  east  to  west,  there  are  no  less  than  seven  hills  crowned 
with  British  fortifications,  which  are  well  described  in  a  communication 
to  the  Builder. 

The  fortress  of  Chun,  on  the  summit  of  a  hill  overlooking  the 
Atlantic  and  the  mining  operations  at  Botallack,  is  in  better  pre- 
servation than  the  other  hill-castles  in  the  neighbourhood,  if  not  in  the 
entire  county. 

The  plan  of  the  Castle  may  be  thus  described.  First  a  ditch,  20  feet 
in  width,  extends  round  the  fortress.  Then  two  concentric  walls^the 
space  between  them  fonning  another  ditch,  30  feet  wide — enclose  a 
central  area  approximately  circular,  although  in  reality  a  slight  ellipse. 
These  walls  are  formed  of  dry-stone  masonry,  i.e.,  a  collection  of  loose 
granite  stones  heaped  together  with  some  attempt  at  order,  but  without 
the  aid  of  cement.  This  class  of  work  is  found  in  many  of  the  hill- 
castles  and  other  primitive  Celtic  dwellings. 

The  entrance  to  the  interior  of  Chun  Castle  affords  a  remarkable 
instance  of  the  military  ingenuity  of  the  old  Britons.  The  opening 
through  the  outer  wall  on  both  sides  is  bounded  by  immense  slabs  of 
unwrought  granite.  Thence,  turning  to  the  left,  a  passage  nearly  40 
feet  in  length  conducts  us  to  the  opening  through  the  inner  wall,  where 
two  jambs,  each  about  5  feet  high,  still  remain  on  the  innermost  side. 
This  second  entrance  has  a  due  west  aspect,  and  measures  in  its  widest 
part  16  feet,  and  in  its  narrowest  6  feet,  splaying  outwardly.  For 
further  protection,  another  wall  was  built  from  the  right-hand  side  of 
the  outer  entrance  to  within  3  feet  of  the  inner  wall,  where  it  turned 
at  right  angles  towards  the  inner  entrance.  Besides  this,  one  of  the 
three  transverse  walls  before  mentioned  was  so  adjusted  as  to  extend 
from  the  left-hand  side  of  the  inner  entrance  to  the  outer  wall.  The 
whole  of  this  work,  the  neatness  and  regularity  of  the  walls,  providing 
such  security  for  their  entrance,  flanking  and  dividing  their  fosse,  shows 
a  military  knowledge  superior  to  that  of  any  other  works  of  this  kind 
seen  in  Cornwall. 

Castle-an-dinas,  on  the  summit  of  a  hill  in  the  parish  of  Ludgvan,  K. 
735  feet  above  the  sea-level,  and,  with  the  exception  of  Carminnis  Hill, 
north-west  of  Towednack,  the  highest  spot  of  elevated  ground  ia  the 


Cornish  Hill  Castles.  5  ^ ' 

district.  The  hill  on  which  Castle-an-dinas  stands  is  easily  recognised 
from  others  by  a  modern  building  on  its  summit,  in  the  Gothic  style, 
generally  known  as  Rogers's  Tower.  This  watch-tower,  or  "  folly," 
was  erected  apparently  of  stones  taken  from  the  encampment. 

Castle-an-dinas  consisted  of  two  circular  stone  walls,  built  one 
within  the  other,  of  great  height  and  thickness.  There  was  also  a  third 
and  outmost  wall.  Within  the  walls  are  many  little  enclosures  of  a 
circular  form,  about  7  yards  diameter,  with  little  walls  round  them,  of 
2  feet  or  3  feet  high.  They  appeared  to  have  been  so  many  huts  erected 
for  the  shelter  of  the  gairison. 

The  Castles  of  Caer  Bran  and  Bartinney  are  on  adjacent  hill-tops 
west  of  Sancreed  Church-town.  The  former  consists  of  an  outer 
vallum  of  earth,  and  an  inner  wall  of  stone.  The  outer  vallum  some- 
times attains  the  height  of  15  feet,  and  is  protected  on  each  side  by  a 
ditch,  so  that  there  is  an  interval  of  20  yards  between  the  inner  wall 
and  the  outer  ditch.  This  wall  formerly  had  a  general  thickness  of 
about  12  feet. 

Bartinney  Castle  consists  of  a  single  vallum,  but  what  now  rwnains 
of  it  is  almost  entirely  overgrown  with  furze.  The  circular  enclosures 
in  the  interior,  however,  can  still  be  traced ;  one  has  a  diameter  of  nine 
yards,  the  other  two  only  seven.  This  fort  is  689  feet  above  the  sea, 
and  is  remarkable  as  being  the  only  spot  in  England  where  the 
sun  can  be  seen  to  rise  and  set  in  the  sea  on  the  same  day,  Decem- 
ber 21. 

Trecobben  Hill,  between  Castle-an-dinas  and  Leland  Church,  and 
Castles  Horneck  and  Lescudjack,  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Pen- 
zance, were  also  the  sites  of  British  encampments.  That  on  Tre- 
cobben Hill  is  in  a  fair  state  of  preservation,  of  an  irregular  plan,  and 
occupies  the  entire  summit. 

It  seems  probable  that  these  and  similar  hill-castles  in  Cornwall  are 
the  work  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants,  who  thus  sought  to  defend  them- 
selves from  the  attacks  of  their  foreign  foes.  Although  this  is  now  the 
general  belief,  yet  some  of  the  antiquaries  of  the  last  century  ascribed 
these  works  on  the  hills  to  foreign  invaders  rather  than  to  the  native 
Celts.  Thus,  Castellan  Dents  or  Danis  was  thought  to  have  been 
the  work  of  the  Danes;  whereas,  dents  or  dinas,  in  Cornish,  signifies  a 
bulwark  or  fortress. 

The  following  interesting  exploration  of  ancient  British  fortifications 
and  villages  has  been  made  by  the  Royal  Institution  of  Cornwall  and 
the  Penzance  Natural  History  Society  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Gur- 
nard's Head,  on  the  north  coast  of  the  county,  and  Gulval  Dowus : — 


5*2  77/^  Great  Tolmaen  of  Cornwall. 

Gurnard's  Head  is  a  rocky  promontory,  jutting  some  distance  into  the 
sea,  and  bearing  very  distinct  traces  of  having  been  fortified  by  the 
ancient  Britons  against  an  enemy  attacking  from  the  sea,  this  being  the 
only  specimen  of  an  ancient  British  fortification  where  traces  of  sea 
defences  have  been  found.  In  all  other  cases  they  seem  to  have  been 
erected  as  a  protection  from  attack  from  the  land  side,  and  were 
evidently  the  last  retreat  of  the  natives.  Bosphrennis  Bee-hive  Hut, 
which  was  first  brought  to  light  by  the  Cambrian  Archaeological 
Society,  was  visited  and  further  investigated  by  the  aid  of  the  magnesium 
light.  On  crossing  the  moor  the  party  were  fortunate  enough  to  dis- 
cover an  unexplored  barrow,  but,  not  being  provided  with  the  necessary 
tools,  they  were  unable  to  open  it,  and  its  exploration  is  accordingly 
postponed.  The  party  next  discovered  near  the  village  of  Trereen  a 
Kistvean,  in  a  very  good  state  of  preservation ;  the  walls  of  this 
sepulchral  tenement  are  formed  of  blocks  of  granite,  with  a  massive 
slab  on  the  top.  The  chamber  was  3  feet  by  8  feet,  and  3  feet  high  ; 
it  was  perfectly  dry,  and  some  good  specimens  of  Cornish  ferns  were 
growing  on  the  walls.  On  an  eminence  near  the  village  of  Porthmeor 
was  found  a  large  enclosed  circle,  now  hidden  by  briars  and  ferns,  and 
which,  on  examination,  showed  the  remains  of  several  circular  huts, 
leaving  no  doubt  that  here  a  considerable  ancient  British  village  had 
once  existed. 


The  Great  Tolmaen  of  Cornwall. 

This  great  natural  and  historical  curiosity — one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated wonders  of  its  class — to  the  great  regret  of  all  lovers  of  antiqua- 
rian lore,  was  in  the  year  1869  ruthlessly  destroyed.  The  Tolmen, 
more  properly  written  Tol-Maen,  or  Hole  of  Stone,  in  the  ancient 
Celtic  language  of  West  Britain,  but  usually  called  the  Main  Rock,  or 
Men  Rock,  by  modern  Cornishmen,  stood  in  the  parish  of  Constantine, 
half  way  between  Penrhyn  and  Helston,  and  four  miles  from  Falmoutli, 
It  is  thus  described  by  Borlase,  in  his  work  on  the  antiquities  ol 
Cornwall : — 

"  The  most  astonishing  monument  of  this  kind  is  in  the  tenement 
of  Men,'  in  the  parish  of  Constantino,  Cornwall.  It  is  one  vast  oval 
pebble,  placed  on  the  points  of  two  natural  rocks,  so  that  a  man  may 
creep  under  the  great  one  and  between  its  supporters  through  a  passage 
about  3  ft.  wide  and  as  much  high.  The  longest  diameter  of  this  stone 
is  33  ft.,  pointing  due  north  and  south,  14  ft,  6  in.  deep,  and  tlie  breadth 
in  the  middle  of  the  surface  (where  widest)  is  18  ft.  6  in.  from  cast  to 


The  Great  Tolmaen  of  Cornivall.  5^3 

west.    I  measured  one  half  of  the  circumference,  and  found  it,  accord- 
ing to  my  computation,  48^  ft. ;  so  that  this  stone  is  97  ft.  in  circum- 
ference, about  60  ft.  across  the  middle,  and,  by  the  best  information  I 
can  get,  contains  at  least  750  tons  of  stone.     Getting  up  by  a  ladder  to 
view  the  top  of  it,  we  found  the  surface  worked  like  an  imperfect  or 
mutilated  honey-comb  in  basins ;  one  much  larger  than  the  rest  was  at 
the  south  end,  about  7  ft.  long,  another  at  the  north  end  about  5  ft.,  the 
rest  smaller  ;  seldom  more  than  i  ft.,  oftentimes  not  so  much  ;  the  sides 
and  shape  irregular.     Most  of  these  basins  discharge  into  the  two  princi- 
pal ones  (which  lie  in  the  middle  of  the  surface),  those  only  excepted 
which  are  near  the    brim  of  the  stone,  and  they  have  little  lips  or 
channels  which  discharge  the  water  they  collect  over  the  sides  of  the 
Tolmen ;  and  the  flat  rocks  which  lie  underneath  receive  the  droppings 
into  basins  which  they  have  cut  into  their  surfaces.    The  stone  is  no 
less  wonderful  for  its  position  than  for  its  size ;  for,  although  the  under 
part  is  nearly  semicircular,  yet  it  rests  on  the  two  large  rocks,  and  so 
light  and  detached  does  it  stand  that  it  touches  the  two  under  stones 
but,  as  it  were,  on  their  points ;  all  the  sky  appears  between  them  and 
beneath  the  Tolmen.    The  two  Tolmens  at  Scilly  are  monuments, 
evidently  of  the  same  kind  with  this,  and  of  the  same  name,  and  may 
with  great  probability  be  asserted  to  be  the  works  of  art,  the  under 
stone  appearing  to  have  been  fitted  to  receive  and   support  the  upper 
one.     It  is  remarkable  that  these  Tolmens  rest  on  supporters,  and  do 
not  touch  the  earth,  agreeably  to  an  established  principle  of  the  Druids, 
who  thought  everything  that  was  sacred  would  be  profaned  by  touch- 
ing the  ground,  and  therefore  ordered  so  as  that  these  deities  should 
rest  upon  the  pure  rock,  and  not  be  defiled  by  touching  the  common 
earth.     Another  thing  is  worthy  of  our  notice  in  this  kind  of  monu- 
ments, which  is,  that  underneath  these  vast  stones  there  is  a  hole  or 
passage  between  the  rocks.    What  use  the  ancients  made  of  these 
passages  we  can  only  guess  at ;  but  we  have  reason  to  think  that  when 
stones  were  once  ritually  consecrated  they  attributed  great  and  miracu- 
lous virtues  to  every  part  of  them,  and  imagined  that  whatever  touched, 
lay  down  upon,  was  suiTounded  by,  or  passed  through  these  stones, 
acquired  thereby  a  kind  of  holiness,  and  became  more  acceptable  to  the 
gods.     This  passage  might  also  be  a  sanctuary  for  the  offender  to  fly 
to  and  shelter  himself  from  the  pursuer ;  but  I  imagine  it  chiefly  to 
have   been  intended  and  used  for  introducing  proselytes  or  novice\ 
people  under  vows  or  going  to  sacrifice,  into  the  more  sublime  mysteries ; 
and  for  the  same  reason  I  am  apt  to  think  the  vast  architraves,  or  cross 
stones,  resting  upon  the  uprights  at  Stonehenge,  were  erected — namely, 
*  L  L 


\' 


5^4  Pendennis  Castle. 

with  an  intent  to  consecrate  and  prepare  the  worshippers,  by  passing 
through  those  holy  rocks,  for  the  entering  upon  the  offices  which 
were  to  be  oei-formed  in  their  penetralia,  the  most  sacred  part  of  the 
temple. 

Immediately  beneath  "  The  Tolmaen  "  was  a  valuable  granite  quany, 
which  has  been  worked  to  the  depth  of  forty  feet,  close  up  to  the  bed 
where  theTol-Maen  rested.  This  was  rented  by  some  one,  who,  un- 
known to  the  proprietor,  had  a  hole  bored  underneath  the  rock  and 
charged,  and  this,  when  fired,  threw  the  Tol-Maen  oif  its  bed,  and 
caused  it  to  roll  into  the  quarry,  forty  feet  below. 

It  is  said  that  an  ancient  popular  tradition  of  Cornwall  denounces  a 
terrible  superhuman  vengeance  against  the  destroyer  of  the  Tol-Maen. 


Pendennis  Castle. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  harbour  of  Falmouth  are  the  grey  walls 
i^"  Pendennis  Castle,  at  198  feet  above  the  sea  level.  A  circular  tower, 
erected  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  now  the  residence  of  the  lieut.- 
govemor,  is  the  most  ancient  part  of  this  fortress,  which  was  strengthened 
and  enlarged  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth.  The  Castle  is  fortified  on  the 
N.E.  and  N.W.  by  bastions  and  connecting  curtains.  The  defences 
on  the  other  sides  have  been  constructed  in  conformity  with  the  shape 
of  the  ground.  Pendennis  Castle  in  1644  was  the  residence  of  Queen 
Henrietta  Maria,  who  here  embarked  for  France.  It  is  celebrated  ior 
its  gallant  resistance  to  the  Parliamentary  troops  in  1646,  when,  with 
the  exception  of  Ragland  in  Monmouthshire,  it  was  the  last  fort  which 
held  out  for  King  Charles.  For  six  months  it  endured  a  siege  by  sea 
and  land,  which  its  gallant  commander,  John  Arundel  of  Trcrice,  in 
his  87th  year,  resisted  until  the  garrison  were  forced  by  hunger  to  capi- 
tulate.    The  ramparts  command  a  view  of  extreme  beauty. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  harbour  is  St.  Mawe's  Castle,  of  much 
inferior  defence  to  Pendennis,  erected  about  the  same  time,  being 
commanded  by  a  neighbouring  height. 


515 


Mount  Edgecumbe,  and  Cothele  House. 

Mount  Edgecumbe  is  a  richly-wooded  hill,  varied  in  tint  and  out- 
line, and  occupying  a  peninsula  forming  the  western  boundary  of 
Plymouth.  North  of  it  are  the  populous  towns  (now  united)  of 
Stonehouse  and  Devonport ;  east  of  it  is  Plymouth  Sound,  with  its 
almost  numberless  arms  ;  south  of  it  the  Sound  spreads  out  into  a 
magnificent  sheet  of  water  until  it  loses  itself  in  the  English 
Channel,  with  the  stone  breakwater  breasting  the  long  rollers  from 
the  Atlantic,  and  breaking  their  force  with  its  heavy  granite  arms. 

The  beauty  of  this  famous  spot  was  lisped  in  praise  long  before 
the  English  language  had  assumed  its  modern  form.  Carew,  who 
flourished  about  the  year  1590,  says,  respecting  this  Cornish  penin- 
sula— "  Upon  this  shore,  somewhat  within  the  Hand,  standeth 
Blount  Edgecumbe,  a  house  builded  and  named  by  Sir  Ric.  Edge- 
cumb,  father  to  the  now  possessor  :  and  if  comparisons  were  as 
lawful  in  the  making  as  they  prouve  odiouse  in  the  matching,  I 
would  presume  to  rank  it  for  health,  pleasure  and  commodities, 
with  any  subject's  house  of  his  degree  in  England.  It  is  seated 
against  the  north,  on  the  declining  of  a  hill  in  the  midst  of  a  deere 
park,  neere  a  narrow  entrance  thorow  which  the  salt  water 
breaketh  up  into  the  countiy,  to  shape  the  greatest  part  of  the 
haucn, 

"  The  house  is  builded  square,  with  a  round  turret  at  eche  end, 
garrettes  at  the  top,  and  the  hall  rising  in  the  mids  aboue  the  rest, 
which  yicldeth  a  stately  sound  as  you  enter  the  same.  In  summer 
the  opened  casements  admit  a  refreshing  cooleness  :  in  winter  the 
two  closed  doores  exclude  all  offensive  coldness  :  the  parlour  and 
dining  chamber  giue  you  a  large  and  diversified  prospect  of  land 
and  sea,  to  which  underly  St.  Nicholas  Hand,  Plymouth  Fort,  and 
the  townes  of  Plymouth,  Stonehouse,  Milbrook,  and  Saltash.  It  is 
supplied  with  a  never-failing  spring  of  water. 

"  Certaine  old  mines  yet  remaining  confirme  the  neighbours' 
report  that  neere  the  water's  side  here  stood  once  a  town  called 
Wt'si  Stonehouse,  vntill  the  French  by  fire  and  sword  over- 
threw it." 

Baretti,  an  Italian,  describes  Mount  Edgecumbe  (about  1760)  as 
"being  a  promontory  which  juts  out  into  the  sea  on  the  right  side 
of  Plymouth  harbour.  The  proprietor  of  it  is  an  English  lord,  who 
has  a  house  upon  it.     In  the  world  there  is  perhaps  not  another  so 

L  L  2 


5i6  Moimt  Edgeciimbe,  and  Cothele  House. 

well  situated.  A  bold  expression,  you  will  say ;  but  were  you  to 
see  it  you  would  be  astonished  at  the  position  it  commands.  They 
speak  of  the  Chartreuse  at  Naples,  and  they  say  it  is  the  finest 
situation  in  the  world.  I  believe  it.  But  Mount  Edgecumbe  is 
also  the  finest ;  and  so  you  have  two  finest,  one  at  Naples  and  the 
other  in  Devonshire." 

It  was  observed  by  the  Countess  of  Ossory  that  "  Mount  Edge- 
cumbe has  the  beauties  of  all  other  places  added  to  peculiar 
beauties  of  its  own  ;"  and  Fuller,  with  his  usual  force  and  quaint 
humour,  narrates  the  following  anecdote  in  connexion  with  this 
ancient  mansion  :  "  I  have  been  credibly  informed  that  the  Duke 
of  Medina-Sidonia,  admiral  of  the  Spanish  fleet  in  the  year  eighty- 
eight  (the  year  of  the  Armada),  was  so  affected  at  the  sight  of  this 
house — though  but  beholding  it  at  a  distance  from  the  sea — that 
he  resolved  it  for  his  own  possession,  in  the  partage  of  this  king- 
dom (blame  him  not  if  choosing  best  for  himself),  which  they  pre- 
conquered  in  their  hopes  and  expectation.  But  he  had  catched  a 
great  cold  had  he  had  no  other  clothes  to  wear  than  those  which 
were  to  be  made  of  a  skin  of  a  bear  not  yet  killed." 

About  a  locality  so  beautiful  as  to  evoke  enthusiasm  from  all 
classes  of  writers,  it  is  almost  needless  to  add  much  in  the  way  of 
description  here.  But  the  nature  of  the  scenery  cannot  be  under- 
stood without  a  few  lines  respecting,  at  least,  the  conformation. 
The  underlying  secret  of  the  fascination  of  Mount  Edgecumbe  is 
its  variety — a  variety  that  time  cannot  wither  nor  custom  stale. 
The  surface  alternates  in  harmonious  succession  with  hill  and  dell, 
sylvan  pasture-slopes,  and  bold  and  rugged  heights.  In  the  hollows 
the  sweetest  nooks  of  the  Mount  itself  are  discovered,  while  from 
the  heights  ever-changing  views  of  the  ever-changing  sea,  of  the 
neighbouring  shores,  now  dark  under  passing  cloud-shadows,  now 
aglcam  with  sunshine,  of  the  slow-moving  craft  seen  everywhere 
around,  and  including  all  sailing  things  from  the  white-winged 
yacht  instinct  with  life  and  motion — taking  the  coming  wave  like  a 
petrel — to  that  grisly  floating  fortification,  the  iron-clad. 

The  drive  through  the  park  of  Mount  Edgecumbe,  along  a  road 
that  everywhere  skirts  the  harbour  or  the  sea,  is  considered  to  be 
the  great  charm  of  the  locality.  The  most  famous  points  of  the 
grounds  are  "  Lady  Emma's  Cottage,"  "  the  Ruined  Chapel," 
"  Thomson's  Leap,"  "the  Temple  of  Milton,"  the  "  Amphitheatre," 
the  "  White  Scat,"  the  "  Arch,"  and  the  "  Zigzag  Walks."  These 
various  places,  which  form  the  special  haunts  of  visitors,  arc  either 


Mount  Edgeciimhe,  and  Cothcle  House.  517 

notable  for  the  beautiful  views  to  be  obtained  from  them  or  for  their 
historical  or  other  associations. 

The  mansion  itself  of  Mount  Edgecumbe  is  a  castellated  building, 
parts  of  which  date  from  the  reign  of  King  Henry  VIII.  But 
age  has  either  dealt  kindly  with  the  old  family  seat,  or  the  traces  of 
time  and  decay  have  been  gently  removed  as  they  appeared.  The 
hall  is  grand  in  its  proportions,  and  boasts  a  musicians'  gallery, 
which  is  still  often  used  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  at  first 
intended  ;  but  as  a  rule  the  rooms  are  neither  large  nor  stately — 
homely  comfort  and  domestic  convenience  having  been  the  aim  in 
their  construction,  rather  than  imposing  effect.  There  are  nume- 
rous interesting  family  portraits  in  the  best  styles  of  Lely,  Reynolds, 
and  Vanderveld. 

The  character  and  dignity  of  the  family  who  own  this  charming 
residence  are  in  perfect  accord  with  the  beautiful  structure  itself. 
The  Edgescumbes,  one  of  the  most  ancient  families  in  the  county 
of  Devon,  derive  their  name  from  Eggescomb,  Egecomb,  or  Edge- 
combe (now  called  Lower  Edgecumbe)  in  the  parish  of  Milton 
Abbots,  and  the  present  Earls  of  Edgecumbe  are  lineally  descended 
as  a  younger  branch. 

Richard  Edgcumbe,  Lord  of  Edgcumb  in  Milton  Abbots,  in 
1292,  "was  direct  ancestor  of  the  present  representative  of  the 
main  line"  (who  is  the  twentieth  in  lineal  descent).  It  was  by 
marriage  that  the  family  rose  to  affluence  and  distinction  first. 
William  de  Edgcombe  married  Hilaria,  daughter  and  heiress  of 
William  de  Cothele  of  Cothcle,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III. 
Cothele  is  in  Cornwall,  and  thither  Edgcombe  removed  in  due 
season.  He  and  his  descendants  lived  here  for  several  generations. 
Richard  Edgcumb,  grandson  by  the  marriage  above-mentioned, 
was  a  staunch  adherent  of  Henry,  Earl  of  Richmond,  (afterwards 
Henry  VII.),  and  in  this  relation  a  number  of  curious  legends  are 
extant  respecting  him.  "He  was,"  says  Fuller,  " in  the  time  of 
Richard  III.,  so  hotly  pursued  and  narrowly  searched  for,  that  he 
was  forced  to  hide  himself  in  his  thick  woods  at  Cuttail  (Cothele) 
In  Cornwall.  Here  extremity  taught  him  a  sudden  policy  to  put  a 
stone  in  his  cap,  and  tumble  the  same  into  the  water,  whilst  those 
rangers  were  fast  at  his  heels  ;  who  looking  down  after  the  noise,  and 
seeing  his  cap  swingingt  hereon,  supposed  that  he  had  desperately 
drowned  himself;  and,  deluded  by  this  honest  fraud,  gave  over 
their  farther  pursuit,  leaving  him  at  liberty  to  shift  over  into  Britain 
(Brittany)." 


5 1 8  Mount  Edgecitrrile,  and  CotJiele  House. 

Having  thus  achieved  his  escape  by  means  of  his  ingenuity, 
Richard  Edgecumbe  passed  over  into  Brittany,  joined  the  standard 
of  Earl  Richmond  once  more,  and  returning  with  that  prince  fought 
side  by  side  with  him  on  the  decisive  field  of  Bosworth,  where  the 
usurper  Richard  III.  was  killed.  Edgecumbe's  bravery  on  this 
occasion  did  not  pass  unrecognised.  He  was  knighted  on  the 
field,  and  on  the  accession  of  King  Henry  VII.  to  the  throne  he 
was  appointed  one  of  the  Privy  Council.  He  also  received  from 
Henry  the  castle  and  lordship  of  Totnes,  in  Devonshire,  as  an 
additional  reward.  After  holding  many  high  offices  qf  trust  Sir 
Richard  Edgecumbe  died  at  Morlaix,  in  1489,  while  holding  the 
appointment  of  ambassador  to  France. 

Piers  Edgecumbe,  son  of  the  preceding,  maintained  the  respect- 
ability, loyalty,  wealth  and  talent  for  which  this  family  was  distin- 
guished from  the  earliest  times.  He  occupied  the  position  of  Sheriff 
of  Devonshire  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  VII.  and  Henry  VIII.,  dis- 
played great  gallantry  in  the  expedition  of  Henry  VIII.  into 
France,  especially  at  the  sieges  of  Tournay  and  Therouene,  and 
was  created  knight-banneret  at  the  battle  of  the  Spurs — "  so  called 
from  the  speed  with  which  the  French  ran  away." 

Sir  Piers  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest  son,  Richard  Edgecumbe, 
who  was  knighted  in  1536,  and  built  the  present  family  mansion. 
His  son,  Sir  Richard,  married  Mary,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir 
Richard  Coteele  or  Cottle,  of  London,  acquiring  an  ancient  and 
beautiful  estate  by  the  alliance.  This  Richard  was  again  succeeded 
by  another  Piers,  who  besides  inheriting  the  virtue  of  loyally 
which  is  so  conspicuous  in  the  Edgecumbes,  "  was  a  master  of 
languages  and  sciences,  a  lover  of  the  king  and  church,  which  he 
endeavoured  to  support  in  the  time  of  the  civil  wars  to  the  utmost 
of  his  power  and  fortune." 

Durmg  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  Edgecumbes 
continued,  as  they  had  formerly  done,  to  draw  upon  themselves 
an  unusual  share  of  royal  favour,  by  the  loyalty  which  in  them  was 
both  a  natural  and  hereditary  quality,  and  by  their  general  merit 
In  Richard,  second  Baron  Edgecumbe,  we  have  a  gentleman 
differing  in  some  respects  from  the  almost  monotonous  type  of  his, 
family,  and  interesting  from  the  circumstance  that  his  portrait  has 
been  drawn  with  care,  at  least,  if  not  with  candour,  by  Walpole. 
This  Baron  Edgecumbe  was  one  of  the  Lords  of  the  Admiralty, 
and  was  afterwards  appointed  Comptroller  of  his  Majesty's  House- 
hold.    "His    lordship's   skill  as  a  draughtsman,"    says    Horaco 


Mount  Edgecumhe,  and  CotJicle  House.  5 19 

Walpole,  "  is  said  to  have  been  such  as  might  entitle  him  to  a  place 
in  the  Anecdotes  of  English  Painting,  while  the  ease  and  hannony 
of  his  poetic  productions  give  him  an  authorized  introduction  here." 
....  "A  man  of  fine  parts,  great  knowledge,  and  original  wit,  who 
possessed  a  light  and  easy  vein  of  poetry  ;  who  was  calculated  by 
nature  to  serve  the  public  and  to  charm  society  ;  but  who  unhappily 
was  a  man  of  pleasure,  and  left  his  gay  associates  a  most  affecting 
example  how  health,  fame,  ambition,  and  everything  that  may  be 
laudable  in  principle  or  practice,  are  drawn  into  and  absorbed  by 
that  most  destructive  of  all  whirlpools — gaming." 

On  the  death  of  the  second  baron,  who  never  married,  the  titles 
and  property  passed  to  his  brother  George,  who  was  created  Viscount 
Mount  Edgecumbe  and  Valletort  in  1781,  and  Earl  of  Mount  Edge- 
cumbe  in  1 789.  The  present  representative  of  the  family  is  William 
Henry,  fourth  Earl  of  Mount  Edgecumbe. 

"  An  astonishing  instance  of  revivescence,  or  recovery  from  death- 
trance,"  says  Polwhele,  "  has  occurred  in  the  Edgecumbe  family." 

The  family  were  at  the  time  residing  at  Cothele.     Lady  Edge- 
cumbe, believed  to  be  the  mother  of  Sir  Richard  Edgecumbe, 
knight,  who  was  created   Baron  of  Mount  Edgecumbe  in   1748, 
"had  expired;  but,"  continues  Polwhele,  " in  consequence  of  what 
disorder  I  am  not  informed.    Her  body  was  deposited  in  the  family 
vault,  not,  I  suppose,  in  less  than  a  week  after  her  supposed  death. 
The  interment,  however,  had  not  long  taken  place  before  the  sexton, 
from  a  motive  sufficiently  obvious,  went  down  into  the  vault,  and 
observing  a  gold  ring  on  the  lady's  finger  attempted  to  draw  it  off. 
\     Not  succeeding,  he  pressed  and  pinched  the  finger,  when  the  body 
I     very  sensibly  moved  in  the  coffin.     The  man  ran  off  in  terror, 
/     leaving  his  lanthorn  behind  him.     Her  ladyship  arose  and   taking 
i      the  lanthorn  proceeded  to  the  mansion  house.     It  was  about  five 
"     years  after,  that  of  her  Sir  Richard  was  born.     Of  the  authenticity 
of  this  account  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt.     A  few  years  ago 
a  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance  heard  all  the  particulars  of  the 
transaction  from  the  late  Lord  Graves,  at  Thanckes,  which  is  in 
\         the  neighbourhood  of  Cothele.     But  I  need  not  appeal  to  Lord 
';         Graves's  authority,  as  I  recollect  the  narrative  as  coming  from  the 
>        lips  of  my  grandmother,  Polwhele." 

I  We  now  come  to  say  a  very  few  words  respecting  the  manor  of 

^-V     Cothele,  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Mount  Edgecumbe,  and  now 

the  residence  of  the  Dowager  Countess  of  Mount  Edgecumbe.     It 

is  among  the  most  antique  and  beautiful  of  the  historic  halls  ot 


520  Mount  Edgecumbe,  and  Cothele  House. 


England,  is  the  pride  of  the  river  Tamar,  and  one  of  the  "gems" 
of  Cornwall.  The  derivation  of  the  word  is  said  to  be  "  Coetheyle" 
— the  woods  on  the  river — a  name  which  is  accurately  descriptive. 
The  antiquity  and  the  general  interest  of  this  charming  manor  will 
at  once  be  understood,  when  it  is  mentioned  that  for  nearly  three 
centuries  it  has  been  the  residence  of  one  unbroken  line  of  Edge- 
cumbes,  and  that  since  its  completion  it  has  undergone  scarcely 
any  alteration.  It  was  begun  by  Sir  Richard  Edgecumbe  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  VII.,  was  carried  on  slowly  through  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII.,  and  was  not  completed  till  after  the  accession  of 
Elizabeth.  Its  present  lord  is  the  lineal  descendant  of  the  knight 
^  'C  who  built  it,  and  the  present  condition  of  the  old  hall  is  in  almost 
.  \f  every  detail  the  same  as  it  has  been  through  so  many  generations. 
Cothele  is  an  embattled  structure,  built  round  a  quadrangle,  and 
situated  above  an  ancient  wood  of  oak,  elm,  and  chestnut,  on  a 
slope  rising  from  the  banks  of  the  Tamar.  As  a  specimen  of  • 
domestic  mediaeval  architecture  in  England,  it  is  one  of  the  best 
existing,  and  takes  rank  with  Haddon  Hall,  in  Derbyshire,  and  thdi 
other  best  examples  of  the  period  to  which  it  belongs.  The  size  andij 
the  style  of  the  decorations  of  the  banqueting  hall  are  in  harmony* 
with  t\\Q  genius  loci  of  Cothele.  It  is  42  feet  long  by  22  wide,  has  a 
remarkably  fine  timber  roof  of  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.,  with  inter- 
secting arches  in  its  compartments,  and  the  walls  are  hung  with 
trophies  of  war  and  of  the  chase,  with  old  armour,  gauntlets, 
petronels,  matchlocks,  battle-axes,  pistols,  spears,  and  "  swords  and 
bucklers  that  had  stood  against  old  foes."  In  this  collection  are 
also  several  horns,  such  as  were  used  by  the  warders  in  the  old  time 
to  sound  the  approach  of  a  stranger.  The  windows  of  this  hall,  so 
sumptuous  in  all  its  arrangements,  are  enriched  by  many  of  the 
names  of  the  most  distinguished  families  of  the  south,  but  especially 
of  the  south-west  of  England.  Here  'esidcs  the  royal  arms,  are 
the  impalements  of  Edgecumbe,  Cotheie,  and  of  Raleigh,  Holland, 
Tremain,Trevanion,Trenchard,  Durford,Carcw,Courtenay,&c  "vith 
many  of  whichfamilics  theEdgccumbcs  formed  alliances  by  manrage. 
The  other  apartments  of  Cothele  are  extremely  interesting — every 
nook  and  corner  has  a  story  to  telL  The  armour  of  the  founder, 
who  fought  at  Bosworth,  still  hangs  in  the  hall ;  the  table  at  which 
he  feasted  and  the  bed  on  which  he  slept  are  still  to  be  seen.  All 
the  rooms  are  hung  with  fine  old  tapestry  which  requires  to  be 
lifted  on  entering  them.  The  hearths,  all  built  ages  before  coal  was 
dreamed  of,  are  ornamented  with  grotesque  andirons  for  the  support 
of  the  logs. 


521 


Fengerswick  Castle. 

The  ruins  of  this  ancient  stronghold — which  now  consist  of  a 
single  tower  with  embattled  turrets  and  machicolated  gateway— are 
situated  in  a  lonely  sort  of  hollow  running  down  to  Pengerswick 
Cove,  in  Mount's  Bay,  which  lies  midway  between  Lizard  Point 
and  the  Land's  End,  Cornwall.  They  are  chiefly  interesting  on 
account  of  the  many  strange  traditions  which  still  exist  amongst 
the  peasantry  regarding  some  of  their  ancient  lords.  The  following, 
which  we  select  from  a  somewhat  interesting  collection,  edited  by 
Robert  Hunt,  F.R.S.,  are  a  few  of  the  most  popular  : — 

HOW  PENGERSWICK  BECAME  A  SORCERER, 

The  first  Pengerswick,  by  whom  the  castle,  which  still  bears  his 
name,  was  built,  was  a  proud  man,  and  desired  to  ally  himself  with 
some  of  the  best  families  of  Cornwall.  He  wished  his  son  to  wed 
a  lady  who  was  very  much  older  than  himself,  who  is  said  to  have 
been  connected  with  the  Godolphin  family.  This  elderly  maiden, 
had  a  violent  desire  either  for  the  young  man  or  the  castle — it  is  not 
very  clear  which.  The  young  Pengerswick  gave  her  no  return  for 
the  manifestations  of  love  which  she  lavished  upon  him.  Eventu- 
ally, finding  all  her  attempts  to  win  the  young  man's  love  were 
abortive,  and  that  all  the  love  potions  brewed  for  her  by  the  Witch 
of  Fraddam  were  of  no  avail,  she  married  the  old  lord — mainly,  it 
is  said,  to  be  revenged  on  the  son. 

The  witch  had  a  niece  who,  though  poor,  possessed  considerable 
beauty;  she  was  called  Bitha.  This  young  girl  was  frequently  em- 
ployed by  her  aunt  and  the  lady  of  Godolphin  to  aid  them  in  their 
spells  on  the  young  Pengerswick,  and,  as  a  natural  consequence 
she  fell  desperately  in  love  with  him  herself.  Bitha  ingratiated 
herself  with  the  lady  of  Pengerswick,  now  the  stepmother  of  the 
young  man,  and  was  selected  as  her  maid.  This  gave  her  many 
opportunities  of  seeing  and  speaking  to  young  Pengerswick,  and 
her  passion  increased.  The  old  stepdame  was  still  passionately 
fond  of  the  young  man,  and  never  let  a  chance  escape  her  which 
she  thought  likely  to  lead  to  the  excitement  of  passion  in  his  heart 
towards  her.  In  all  her  attempts  she  failed.  Her  love  was  turned 
to  hate  ;  and  having  seen  her  stepson  in  company  with  Bitha,  this 
hate  was  quickened  by  the  more  violent  jealousy.  Every  means 
which  her  wicked  mind  could  devise  were  employed  to  destroy  the 


522  Pengerszvick  Castle, 

young  man.  Bitha  had  learned  from  her  aunt,  the  Witch  of  Frad- 
dam,  much  of  her  art,  and  she  devoted  herself  to  counteract  the 
spells  of  her  mistress. 

The  stepmother,  failing  to  accomplish  her  ends,  resolved  to  ruin 
young  Pengerswick  with  his  father.  She  persuaded  the  old  man 
that  his  son  really  entertained  a  violent  passion  for  her,  and  that 
she  was  compelled  to  confine  herself  to  her  tower  in  fear.  The 
aged  woman  prevailed  on  Lord  Pengerswick  to  hire  a  gang  of  out- 
landish sailors  to  carry  his  son  away  and  sell  him  for  a  slave,  giving 
him  to  believe  that  she  should  herself  in  a  short  time  present  him 
with  an  heir. 

The  young  Pengerswick  escaped  all  their  plots,  and  at  his  own 
good  time  he  disappeared  from  the  castle,  and  for  a  long  period 
was  never  heard  of. 

The  mistress  and  maid  plotted  and  counter-plotted  to  secure  the 
old  Pengerswick's  wealth ;  and  when  he  was  on  his  deathbed,  Bitha 
informed  him  of  the  vile  practices  of  his  wife,  and  consoled  him 
with  the  information  that  he  was  dying  from  the  effects  of  poison 
given  him  by  her. 

The  young  lord,  after  long  years,  returned  from  some  Eastern 
lands  with  a  princess  for  his  wife,  learned  in  all  the  magic  sciences 
of  those  enchanted  lands.  He  found  his  stepmother  shut  up  in  her 
chamber,  with  her  skin  covered  with  scales  like  a  serpent,  from  the 
effects  of  the  poisons  which  she  had  so  often  been  distilling  for  the 
old  lord  and  his  son.  She  refused  to  be  seen,  and  eventually  cast 
herself  into  the  sea,  to  the  relief  of  all  parties. 

Bitha  fared  not  much  better.  She  lived  on  the  Downs  in  St. 
Hilary;  and  from  the  poisonous  fumes  she  had  inhaled  and  from 
her  dealings  with  the  devil,  her  skin  became  of  the  colour  of  that 
of  a  toad. 

THE  LORD  OF  PENGERSWICK  AN  ENCHANTER. 

The  Lord  of  Pengerswick  came  from  some  Eastern  clime, 
bringing  with  him  a  foreign  lady  of  great  beauty.  She  was  con- 
sidered by  all  an  "  outlandish  "  woman ;  and  by  many  declared  to 
be  a  "  Saracen."  No  one,  beyond  the  selected  servants,  was  ever 
allowed  within  the  walls  of  Pengerswick  Castle ;  and  they,  it  was 
said,  were  bound  by  magic  spells.  No  one  dared  tell  of  anything 
transacted  within  the  walls;  consequently  all  was  conjecture 
amongst  the  neighbouring  peasantry,  miners,  and  fishermen.  Cer- 
tain it  was,  they  said,  that  Pengerswick  would  shut  himself  up  for 


Pengersivick  Castle.  523 

days  together  in  his  chamber,  burninsr  strange  things,  which  sent 
^heir  strong  odours, — not  only  to  every  part  of  the  castle,— but  for 
miles  around  the  country.  Often  at  night,  and  especially  in  stormy 
weather,  Pengerswick  was  heard  for  hours  together  calling  up  the 
spirits,  by  reading  from  his  books  in  some  unknown  tongue.  On 
those  occasions  his  voice  would  roll  through  the  halls  louder  than 
the  surging  waves  which  beat  against  the  neighbouring  rocks,  the 
spirits  replying  like  the  roar  of  thunder.  Then  would  all  the  ser- 
vants rush  in  fright  from  the  building,  and  remain  crowded  together, 
even  in  the  most  tempestuous  night,  in  one  of  the  open  courts. 
Fearful,  indeed,  would  be  the  strife  between  the  man  and  the 
demons  ;  and  it  sometimes  happened  that  the  spirits  were  too 
powerful  for  the  enchanter.  He  was,  however,  constantly  and  care- 
fully watched  by  his  wife  ;  and  whenever  the  strife  became  too 
serious,  her  harp  was  heard  making  the  softest,  the  sweetest  music. 
At  this  the  spirits  fled  ;  and  they  were  heard  passing  through  the 
air  towards  the  Land's  End,  moaning  like  the  soughing  of  a  de- 
parting storm.  The  lights  would  then  be  extinguished  in  the 
enchanter's  tower,  and  all  would  be  peace  ;  the  servants  would 
return  to  their  apartments  with  a  feeling  of  perfect  confidence. 
They  feared  their  master,  but  their  mistress  inspired  them  with 
love.  Lady  Pengerswick  was  never  seen  beyond  the  grounds  sur- 
rounding the  castle.  She  sat  all  day  in  lonely  state  and  pride  in 
her  tower,  the  lattice-window  of  her  apartment  being  high  on 
the  seaward  side.  Her  voice  accompanying  the  music  of  her 
harp  was  rarely  heard  but  when  she  warbled  the  soft  love  strains 
of  her  Eastern  land.  Often  at  the  early  dawn  the  very  fishes  of 
the  neighbouring  bay  would  raise  their  heads  above  the  surface  of 
the  waters,  enchanted  by  the  music  and  the  voice  ;  and  it  is  said 
that  the  mermaids  from  the  Lizard,  and  many  of  the  strange  spirits 
of  the  waters,  would  come  near  to  Pengers-vick  cove,  drawn  by  the 
same  influence.  On  moonlight  nights  the  air  has  often  seemed  to 
be  full  of  sound,  and  yet  the  lady's  voice  was  seldom  louder  than 
that  of  a  warbling  bird.  On  these  occasions,  men  have  seen 
thousands  of  spirits  gliding  up  and  down  the  moonbeams,  and 
floating  idly  on  the  silvered  waves,  listening  to,  and  sometimes 
softly  echoing,  the  words  which  Lady  Pengerswick  sang.  Long  did 
this  strange  pair  inhabit  this  lonely  castle ;  anc^  although  the  Lord 
of  Pengerswick  frequently  rode  abroad  on  a  most  magnificent 
horse — which  had  the  reputation  of  being  of  Satanic  origin,  it  was 
at  once  so  docile  to  his  master  and  so  wild  to  any  other  person,— 


524  Pengersiuick  Castle. 

yet  he  made  no  acquaintance  with  any  of  the  neighbouring  gentry. 
He  was  feared  by  all,  and  yet  they  respected  him  for  many  of  the 
good  deeds  performed  by  him.  He  completely  enthralled  the 
Giants  of  the  Mount ;  and  before  he  had  disappeared  from  Corn- 
wall, they  died,  owing,  it  was  said,  to  grief  and  want  of  food. 

Where  Lord  Pengerswick  came  from,  no  one  knew  ;  he,  with  his 
lady,  with  two  attendants,  who  never  spoke  in  any  but  an  Eastern 
tongue,  which  was  understood  by  none  around  them,  made  their 
appearance  one  winter's  day,  mounted  on  beautiful  horses,  evi- 
dently from  Arabia  or  some  distant  land. 

They  soon — having  gold  in  abundance — got  possession  of  a 
cottage  ;  and  in  a  marvellously  short  time  the  castle,  which  yet 
bears  his  name,  was  rebuilt  by  this  lord.  Many  affirm  that  the 
lord  by  the  force  of  his  enchantments,  and  the  lady  by  the  spell  of 
her  voice,  compelled  the  spirits  of  the  earth  and  air  to  work  for 
them ;  and  that  three  nights  were  sufficient  to  rear  an  enormous 
pile,  of  which  but  one  tower  now  remains. 

Their  coming  was  sudden  and  mysterious  ;  their  going  was  still 
more  so.  Years  had  rolled  on,  and  the  people  around  were  fami- 
liarized with  those  strange  neighbours,  from  whom  also  they  derived 
large  profits,  since  they  paid  whatsoever  price  was  demanded  for 
any  article  which  they  required.  One  day  a  stranger  was  seen  in 
Market-Jew,  whose  face  was  bronzed  by  long  exposure  to  an 
Eastern  sun.  No  one  knew  him  ;  and  he  eluded  the  anxious  in- 
quiries of  the  numerous  gossips,  who  were  especially  anxious  to 
learn  something  of  this  man,  who,  it  was  surmised  by  every  one, 
must  have  some  connexion  with  Pengerswick  or  his  lady ;  yet  no 
one  could  assign  any  reason  for  such  a  supposition.  Week  after 
week  passed  away,  and  the  stranger  remained  in  the  town,  giving 
no  sign.  Wonder  was  on  every  old  woman's  lips,  and  expressed 
in  every  old  man's  eyes  ;  but  they  had  to  wonder  on.  One  thing, 
it  was  said,  had  been  noticed ;  and  this  seemed  to  confirm  the 
suspicions  of  the  people.  The  stranger  wandered  out  on  dark 
nights — spent  them,  it  was  thought,  on  the  sea-shore  ;  and  some 
fishermen  said  they  had  seen  him  seated  on  the  rock  at  the  entrance 
of  the  valley  of  Pengerswick.  It  was  thought  that  the  lord  kept 
more  at  home  than  usual,  and  of  late  no  one  had  heard  his  incan- 
tation songs  and  sounds  ;  neither  had  they  heard  the  harp  of  the 
lady.  A  very  tempestuous  night,  singular  for  its  gloom — when 
even  the  ordinary  light,  which,  on  the  darkest  night,  is  evident  to 
the  traveller  in  the  open  country,  did  not  exist — appears  to  have 


Pengersivick  Castle.  525 

brought  things  to  their  climax.  There  was  a  sudden  alarm  in 
Market-Jew,  a  red  glare  in  the  eastern  sky,  and  presently  a  burst 
of  flames  above  the  hill,  and  St.  Michael's  Mount  was  illuminated 
in  a  remarkable  manner.  Pengerswick  Castle  was  on  fire ;  the 
servants  fled  in  terror ;  but  neither  the  lord  nor  his  lady  could  be 
found.     From  that  day  to  the  present  they  were  lost  to  all. 

The  interior  of  the  castle  was  entirely  destroyed  ;  not  a  vestige 
of  furniture,  books,  or  anything  belonging  to  the  "  Enchanter" 
could  be  found.  He  and  everything  belonging  to  him  had 
vanished  ;  and,  strange  to  tell,  from  that  night  the  bronzed  stranger 
was  never  again  seen.  The  inhabitants  of  Market-Jew  naturally 
crowded  to  the  fire  ;  and  when  all  was  over  they  returned  to  their 
homes,  speculating  on  the  strange  occurrences  of  the  night.  Two 
of  the  oldest  people  always  declared  that,  when  the  flames  were  at 
the  highest,  they  saw  two  men  and  a  lady  floating  in  the  midst  of 
the  fire,  and  that  they  ascended  from  amidst  the  falling  walls, 
passed  through  the  air  like  lightning,  and  disappeared. 

THE  VnTCH  OF  FRADDAM  AND  THE  ENCHANTER  OF 
PENGERSWICK. 

Again  and  again  had  the  Lord  of  Pengerswick  reversed  the  spells 
of  the  Witch  of  Fraddam,  who  was  reported  to  be  the  most  power- 
ful weird  woman  in  the  west  country.  She  had  been  thwarted  so 
many  times  by  this  "  white  witch,"  that  she  resolved  to  destroy  him 
by  some  magic  more  potent  than  anything  yet  heard  of.  It  is  said 
that  she  betook  herself  to  Kynance  Cove,  and  that  there  she  raised 
the  devil  by  her  incantations,  and  that  she  pledged  her  soul  to  him 
in  return  for  the  aid  he  promised.  The  enchanter's  famous  mare 
■was  to  be  seduced  to  drink  from  a  tub  of  poisoned  water  placed  by 
the  road-side,  the  effect  of  which  was  to  render  it  in  the  highest 
degree  restive,  and  cause  it  to  fling  his  rider.  The  wounded 
Lord  of  Pengerswick  was,  in  his  agony,  to  be  drenched,  by  the  old 
witch,  with  some  hell-broth,  brewed  in  the  blackest  night,  under 
>he  most  evil  aspects  of  the  stars  ;  by  this  he  would  be  in  her  power 
for  ever,  and  she  might  torment  him  as  she  pleased.  The  devil 
felt  certain  of  securing  the  soul  of  the  Witch  of  Fraddam,  but  he 
was  less  certain  of  securing  that  of  the  enchanter.  They  say, 
indeed,  that  the  sorcery  which  Pengerswick  learned  in  the  East 
was  so  potent,  that  the  devil  feared  him.  However,  as  the  proverb 
is,  he  held  with  the  hounds  and  ran  with  the  hare.  The  witch  col- 
lected with  the  utmost  care  all  the  deadly  things  she  could  obtain, 


$26  Pengerswick  Castle. 

with  which  to  brew  her  famous  drink.  In  the  darkest  night,  in  the 
midst  of  the  wildest  storms,  amidst  the  flashings  of  hghtnings  and 
the  bellowings  of  the  thunder,  the  witch  was  seen  riding  on  her 
black  ram-cat  over  the  moors  and  mountains  in  search  of  her 
poisons.  At  length  all  was  complete — the  horse  drink  was  boiled, 
the  hell-broth  was  brewed.  It  was  in  March,  about  the  time  of  the 
equinox ;  the  night  was  dark,  and  the  King  of  Storms  was  abroad. 
The  witch  planted  her  tub  of  drink  in  a  dark  lane,  through  which 
she  knew  the  Lord  of  Pengerswick  must  pass,  and  near  to  it  she 
sat,  crooning  over  her  crock  of  broth.  The  witch-woman  had  not 
long  to  wait ;  amidst  the  hurrying  winds  was  heard  the  heavy 
tramp  of  the  enchanter's  mare,  and  soon  she  perceived  the  outline 
of  man  and  horse  defined  sharply  against  the  line  of  lurid  light 
which  stretched  along  the  western  horizon.  On  they  came ;  the 
witch  was  scarcely  able  to  contain  herself — her  joy  and  her  fears, 
struggling  one  with  the  other,  almost  overpowered  her.  On  came 
the  horse  and  his  rider  :  they  neared  the  tub  of  drink ;  the  mare 
snorted  loudly,  and  her  eyes  flashed  fire  as  she  looked  at  the  black 
tub  by  the  road-side.  Pengerswick  bent  him  over  the  horse's  neck 
and  whispered  into  her  ear ;  she  turns  round,  and,  flinging  out  her 
heels,  with  one  kick  she  scattered  all  to  the  wild  winds.  The  tub 
flew  before  the  blow;  it  rushed  against  the  crock,  which  it  over- 
turned, and  striking  against  the  legs  of  the  old  Witch  of  Fraddam, 
she  fell  along  with  the  tub,  which  assumed  the  shape  of  a  coffin. 
Her  terror  was  extreme  :  she  who  thought  to  have  unhorsed  the 
conjuror,  found  herself  in  a  carriage  for  which  she  did  not  bargain. 
The  enchanter  raised  his  voice  and  gave  utterance  to  some  wild 
words  in  an  unknown  tongue,  at  which  even  his  terrible  mare 
trembled.  A  whirlwind  arose,  and  the  devil  was  in  the  midst  of  it. 
He  took  the  coffin  in  which  lay  the  terrified  witch  high  into  the  air, 
and  the  crock  followed  them.  The  derisive  laughter  of  Pengers- 
wick, and  the  savage  neighing  of  the  horse,  were  heard  above  the 
roar  of  the  winds.  At  length,  with  a  satisfied  tone,  he  exclaimed, 
"  She  is  settled  till  the  day  of  doom  !"  gave  the  mare  the  spurs,  and 
rode  rapidly  home. 

The  Witch  of  J'raddam  still  floats  up  and  down,  over  the  seas, 
nround  the  coast,  in  her  coffin,  followed  by  the  crock,  which  seems 
like  a  punt  in  ai  tendance  on  a  jolly-boat.  Slie  still  works  mischief, 
stirring  up  the  sea  with  her  ladle  and  broom  till  the  waves  swell 
into  mountains,  which  heave  off  from  their  crests,  so  nuich  mist 
and  foam,  that  these  wild  wanderers  of  the  winds  can  scarcely 


Cornish  Family  Traditions. 


5-/ 


be   seen  through  the    mist.     Woe  to  the  mariner  who  sees  the 
witch  ! 

The  Lord  of  Pengerswick  alone  had  power  over  her.  He  had 
but  to  stand  on  his  tower,  and  blow  three  blasts  on  his  trumpet,  to 
summon  her  to  the  shore,  and  compel  her  to  peace. 


Cornish  Family  Traditions. 

THE  DEATH-TOKEN  OF  THE  VINGOES. 

When  you  cross  the  brook  which  divides  St.  Leven  from  Sennen, 
you  are  on  the  estate  of  Treville. 

Tradition  tells  us  that  this  estate  was  given  to  an  old  family  who 
came  with  the  Conqueror  to  this  country.  This  ancestor  is  said  to 
have  been  the  Duke  of  Normandy's  wine-taster,  and  that  he  be- 
longed to  the  ancient  Counts  of  Treville,  hence  the  name  of  the 
estate.  Certain  it  is  the  property  has  ever  been  held  without  poll 
deeds.  For  many  generations  the  family  has  been  declining,  and 
the  race  is  now  nearly,  if  not  quite,  extinct. 

Through  all  time  a  peculiar  token  has  marked  the  coming  death 
of  a  Vingoe.  Above  the  deep  caverns  in  the  Treville  cliff  rises  a 
cairn.  On  this,  chains  of  fire  were  seen  ascending  and  descending, 
and  often  accompanied  by  loud  and  frightful  noises. 

It  is  said  that  these  tokens  have  not  been  seen  since  the  last  male 
of  the  family  came  to  a  violent  end. 

THE   DEATH   FETCH   OF  WILLIAM   RUFUS. 

Robert,  Earl  of  Moreton,  in  Normandy — who  always  carried  the 
standard  of  St.  Michael  before  him  in  battle — was  made  Earl  ol 
Cornwall  by  William  the  Conqueror.  He  was  remarkable  for  his 
valour  and  for  his  virtue,  for  the  exercise  of  his  power,  and  his  bene- 
volence to  the  priests.  This  was  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  who  gave 
the  Mount  in  Cornwall  to  the  monks  of  Mont  St.  Michael  in  Nor- 
mandy. He  seized  upon  the  priory  of  St.  Petroc  at  Bodmin,  and 
converted  all  the  lands  to  his  own  use. 

This  Earl  of  Cornwall  was  an  especial  friend  of  William  Rufus. 
It  happened  that  Robert,  the  earl,  was  hunting  in  the  extensive 
woods  around  Bodmin — of  which  some  remains  are  still  to  be  found 
in  the  Glyn  Valley.    The  chase  had  been  a  severe  one  j  a  fine  old 


52S  Cornish  Family  Traditions. 

red  deer  had  baffled  the  huntsmen,  and  they  were  dispersed  throug"h 
the  intricacies  of  the  forest,  the  Earl  of  Cornwall  being  left  alone. 
He  advanced  beyond  the  shades  of  the  woods  on  to  the  moors 
above  them,  and  he  was  surprised  to  see  a  very  large  black  goat 
advancing  over  the  plain.  As  it  approached  him,  which  it  did 
rapidly,  he  saw  that  it  bore  on  its  back  "  King  Rufus,"  all  black  and 
naked,  and  wounded  through  in  the  midst  of  his  breast.  Robert 
adjured  the  goat,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  to  tell  what  it  was 
he  carried  so  strangely.  He  answered,  "  I  am  carrying  your  king 
to  judgment ;  yea,  that  tyrant  William  Rufus,  for  I  am  an  evil 
spirit,  and  the  revenger  of  his  malice  which  he  bore  to  the  Church 
of  God.  It  was  I  that  did  cause  this  slaughter ;  the  protomartyr 
of  England,  St.  Albyn,  commanding  me  so  to  do,  who  complained 
to  God  of  him,  for  his  grievous  oppression  in  this  isle  of  Britain, 
which  he  first  hallowed."  Having  so  spoken,  the  spectre  vanished. 
Robert,  the  earl,  related  the  circumstance  to  his  followers,  and  they 
shortly  after  learned  that  at  that  very  hour  William  Rufus  had  been 
slain  in  the  New  Forest  by  the  arrow  of  Walter  Tirell. 

SIR  JOHN  ARUNDELL. 

In  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.,  the  brave  Sir  John 
ArundcU  dwelt  on  the  north  coast  of  Cornwall,  at  a  place  called 
Efford,  on  the  coast  near  Stratton.  He  was  a  magistrate,  and 
greatly  esteemed  amongst  men  for  his  honourable  conduct.  He 
had,  however,  in  his  official  capacity,  given  offence  to  a  wild  shep- 
herd, who  had  by  some  means  acquired  considerable  influence  over 
the  minds  of  the  people,  under  the  impression  of  his  possessiing 
some  supernatural  powers.  This  man  had  been  imprisoned  by 
Arundell,  and  on  his  return  home  he  constantly  waylaid  the  knight, 
and,  always  looking  threateningly  at  him,  slowly  muttered, — 

"  When  upon  the  yellow  sand, 
Thou  shalt  die  by  human  hand." 

TTotwithstanding  the  bravery  of  Sir  John  Arundell,  he  was  not  free 
from  the  superstitions  of  the  period.  He  might,  indeed,  have  been 
impressed  with  the  idea  that  this  man  intended  to  murder  him.  It 
is,  however,  certain  that  he  removed  from  Efford  on  the  sands,  to 
the  wood-clad  liills  of  Trericc,  and  here  he  lived  for  some  years 
without  the  annoyance  of  meeting  his  old  enemy.  In  the  tenth 
year  of  Edward  IV.,  Richard  de  Vcrc,  Earl  of  O.xford,  seized  St. 
Michael's  Mount.     Sir  John  Arundell,  then  sheriff  of  CornwaU 


The  Last  of  the  Killigrcu'S.  5  29 

gathered  together  his  own  retainers  and  a  large  host  of  vohintcers, 
and  led  them  to  the  attack  on  St.  Michael's  Mount.  The  retainers 
of  the  Earl  of  Oxford,  on  one  occasion,  left  the  castle,  and  made  a 
sudden  rush  upon  Arundell's  followers,  who  were  encamped  on  the 
sands  near  Marazion.  Arundell  then  received  his  death-wound. 
Although  he  left  Efford  "  to  counteract  the  will  of  fate,"  the  pro- 
phecy was  fulfilled  ;  and  in  his  dying  moments,  it  is  said  his  old 
enemy  appeared,  singing  joyously, — 

"  When  uf)on  the  yellow  sand, 
Thou  shall  die  by  human  hand." 

—  The  Drolls,  Traditions,  dr»c.,  of  Old  Cornwall,  by  R.  Hunt, 
F.R.S. 


The  Last  of  the  Kilh'grews. 

Lady  Jane,  the  widow  of  Sir  John  Killigrew,  sate  in  one  of  the 
windows  of  Arwenick  House,  looking  out  upon  the  troubled  waters 
of  Falmouth  Harbour.  A  severe  storm  had  prevailed  for  some  days, 
and  the  Cornish  coast  was  strewn  with  wrecks.  The  tempest  had 
abated  ;  the  waves  were  subsiding,  though  they  still  beat  heavily 
against  the  rocks.  A  light  scud  was  driving  over  the  sky,  and  a 
wild  and  gloomy  aspect  suffused  all  things.  There  was  a  sudden 
outcry  amongst  a  group  of  men,  retainers  of  the  Killigrew  family, 
which  excited  the  attention  of  Lady  Jane  Killigrew.  She  was  not 
left  long  in  suspense  as  to  the  cause.  In  a  few  minutes  two  Dutch 
ships  were  seen  coming  into  the  harbour.  They  had  evidently  en- 
dured the  beat  of  the  storm,  for  they  were  both  considerably  disa- 
bled ;  and  with  the  fragments  of  sail  which  they  carried,  they 
laboured  heavily.  At  length,  however,  these  vessels  were  brought 
round  within  the  shelter  of  Pendennis  ;  their  anchors  were  cast  in 
good  anchoring-ground  ;  and  they  were  safe,  or  at  least  the  crews 
thought  so,  in  comparatively  smooth  water. 

As  was  the  custom  in  those  days,  the  boat  belonging  to  the 
Killigrew  family,  manned  by  the  group  of  whom  we  have  already 
spoken,  went  off  as  soon  as  the  ships  were  anchored  and  boarded 
them.  They  then  learnt  that  they  were  of  the  Hanse  Towns,  laden 
with  valuable  merchandise  for  Spain,  and  that  this  was  in  the 
charge  of  two  Spanish  factors.  On  the  return  of  the  boat's  cre;>'. 
this  was  reported  to  Lady  Killigrew ;  and  she  being  a  very  wicked 

*  MM 


530  TJie  Last  of  the  Killigrews. 

and  most  resolute  woman,  at  once  proposed  that  they  should  return 
to  the  ships,  and  either  rob  them  of  their  treasure,  or  exact  from 
the  merchants  a  large  sum  of  money  in  compensation.  The  rude 
men,  to  whom  wrecking  and  plundering  was  but  too  familiar,  were 
delighted  with  the  prospect  of  a  rare  prize  ;  and  above  all,  when 
Lady  Killigrew  declared  that  she  would  herself  accompany  them, 
they  were  wild  with  joy. 

With  great  shouting,  they  gathered  together  as  many  men  as  the 
largest  boat  in  the  harbour  would  carry,  and  armed  themselves 
with  pikes,  swords,  and  daggers.  Lady  Jane  Killigrew,  also  armed, 
placed  herself  in  the  stern  of  the  boat  after  the  men  had  crowded 
into  their  places,  and  with  a  wild  huzza  they  left  the  shore,  and 
were  soon  alongside  of  the  vessel  nearest  the  shore.  A  number  of 
the  men  immediately  crowded  up  the  side  and  on  to  the  deck  of 
this  vessel,  and  at  once  seized  upon  the  captain  and  the  factor, 
threatening  them  with  instant  death  if  they  dared  to  make  any  out- 
cry. Lady  Jane  Killigrew  was  now  lifted  on  to  the  deck  of  the 
vessel,  and  the  boat  immediately  pushed  off,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  crew  boarded  the  other  ship. 

The  Dutch  crew  were  overpowered  by  the  numbers  of  Cornish- 
men,  who  were  armed  far  more  perfectly  than  they.  Taken  una- 
wares as  they  were,  at  a  moment  when  they  thought  their  troubles 
were  for  a  season  at  an  end,  the  Dutchmen  were  almost  power- 
less. 

The  Spaniards  were  brave  men,  and  resisted  the  demands  made 
to  deliver  up  their  treasure.  This  resistance  was,  however,  fatal  to 
them.  At  a  signal,  it  is  said  by  some,  given  by  their  leader.  Lady 
Jane  Killigrew, — although  this  was  denied  afterwards, — they  were 
both  murdered  by  the  ruffians  into  whose  hands  they  had  fallen, 
and  their  bodies  cast  overboard  into  the  sea. 

These  wretches  ransacked  the  ships,  and  appropriated  what- 
soever they  pleased,  while  Lady  Jane  took  from  them  "two  hogs- 
heads of  Spanish  pieces  of  eight,  and  converted  them  to  her 
own  use." 

As  one  of  the  Spanish  factors  was  dying,  he  lifted  his  hands  to 

Heaven,  prayed  to  the  Lord  to  receive  his  soul,  and  turning  to  the 

vile  woman  to  whose  villany  he  owed  his  death,  he  said,  "  My  blood 

^ill  linger  with  you  until  my  death  is  avenged  upon  your  own 

ens." 

This  dreadful  deed  was  not  allowed  to  pass  without  notice  even 
In  those  lawless  times.    The  Spaniards  were  then  friendly  with 


The  L  ast  of  the  Killigrews.  5  3 1 

England,  and  upon  the  representation  made  by  the  Spanish  minister 
to  the  existing  government,  the  sheriff  of  Cornwall  was  ordered  to 
seize  and  bring  to  trial  Lady  Jane  Killigrew  and  her  crew  of  mur- 
derers. A  considerable  number  were  arrested  with  her  ;  and  that 
lady  and  several  of  her  men  were  tried  at  Launceston. 

Since  the  Spaniards  were  proved  to  be  at  the  time  of  the  murder 
"foreigners  under  the  Queen's  protection,"  they  were  all  found 
guilty,  and  condemned  to  death. 

All  the  men  were  executed  on  the  walls  of  Launceston  Castle  ; 
but  by  the  interest  of  Sir  John  Arundell  and  Sir  Nicholas  Hals, 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  induced  to  grant  a  pardon  for  Lady  Jane. 

How  Lady  Jane  Killigrew  lived,  and  when  she  died,  are  matters 
on  which  even  tradition,  by  which  the  story  is  preserved,  is  silent. 
We  know,  however,  that  her  immediate  descendant,  John  Killigrew, 
who  married  one  of  the  Monks,  and  his  son  William  Killigrew,  who 
was  made  a  baronet  in  1660  by  Charles  IL,  were  only  known  for 
the  dissoluteness  of  character,  and  the  utter  regardlessness  of  everj- 
feeling  of  an  exalted  character,  which  they  displayed.  Sir  William 
Killigrew,  by  his  ill  conduct  and  his  extravagant  habits,  wasted  all 
the  basely-gotten  treasure,  and  sold  the  manor  and  barton  of  Arwe- 
nick  to  his  younger  brother,  Sir  Peter  Killigrew.  With  the  son  of 
this  Peter  the  baronetcy  became  extinct.  The  last  Sir  Peter  Killi- 
grew, however,  improved  his  fortune  by  marrying  one  of  the  co- 
heirs of  Judge  Twisden.  Sir  Peter  and  his  wife,  of  whom  we  know 
nothing,  died,  leaving  one  son,  George  Killigrew,  who  connected 
himself  with  the  St.  Aubyn  family  by  marriage.  This  man  appears 
to  have  inherited  many  of  the  vices  of  his  family.  He  was  given 
to  low  company,  and  towards  the  close  of  his  life  was  remarkable 
only  for  his  drunken  habits. 

He  was  one  evening  in  a  tavern  in  Penryn,  surrounded  by  his 
usual  companions,  and  with  them  was  one  Walter  Vincent,  a  bar- 
rister-at-law.  The  wine  flowed  freely  ;  songs  and  loose  conversation 
were  the  order  of  the  night.  At  length  all  were  in  a  state  of  great 
excitement  through  the  extravagance  of  their  libations,  and  some- 
thing was  said  by  George  Killigrew  very  insulting  to  Walter 
Vincent. 

Walter  Vincent  does  not  appear  to  have  been  naturally  a  depraved 
man,  but  of  violent  passions.  Irritated  by  Killigrew,  he  made  some 
remarks  on  the  great-grandmother  being  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 
Swords  were  instantly  drawn  by  the  drunken  men.  They  lunged 
at  each  other.    Vincent's  sword  passed  directly  through  Killigrew's 

M  M  3 


532  The  Last  of  the  Killigrews. 

body,  and  he  fell  dead  in  the  midst  of  his  revelries,  at  the  very 
moment  when  he  was  defending  the  character  of  her  who  had 
brought  dishonour  upon  them. 

This  Walter  Vincent  was  tried  for  the  murder  of  George  Killi- 
grew,  but  acquitted.  We  are  told  by  the  Cornish  historian,  "  Yet 
this  Mr.  Vincent,  through  anguish  and  horror  at  this  accident  (as 
it  was  said)  within  two  years  after,  wasted  of  an  extreme  atrophy  of 
his  flesh  and  spirits  ;  that,  at  length,  at  the  table  whereby  he  was 
sitting,  in  the  Bishop  of  Exeter's  palace,  in  the  presence  of  divers 
gentlemen,  he  instantly  fell  back  against  the  wall  and  died." 

George  Killigrew  left  one  daughter  ;  but  of  her  progress  in  life 
we  know  nothing.  Thus  the  Cornish  Killigrews  ceased  to  be  a 
name  in  the  land. —  Traditions,  &*c.,  of  Old  Cornwall,  by  R.  Hunt, 
F.R.S. 


S33 


CHANNEL   ISLANDS. 
Castle  Cornet,  Guernsey. 

Little  is  known  of  the  early  history  of  Guernsey.  It  appears  to  have 
been  desolate  and  uninhabited  when  first  visited  by  the  Romans,  about 
seventeen  years  before  the  Christian  era.  The  religion  of  the  Druids 
must  have  subsequently  flourished  here,  as  is  evident  from  the  discovery 
of  five  Druidical  temples.  The  Christian  religion  was  first  introduced 
about  the  year  520.  As  Christianity  advanced,  chapels  were  built 
in  different  parts  of  the  island,  near  the  sea-shore ;  the  priests  who 
officiated  were  allowed  the  tithe  of  all  the  fish  that  were  caught,  a 
custom  which  has  been  continued  to  our  time. 

About  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century  an  Abbey  was  founded,  dedi- 
cated to  St.  Michael  the  Archangel.     The  inhabitants    of  the  island, 
who,  shortly  after  this  period,  from  the  persuasion  of  the  monks,  had 
taktn  ii  hand  the  plough  as  well  as  the  oar,  suffered  greatly  from  the^- 
piratical  incursions  of  the  Danes,  to  repel  whom  a  stronghold,  or  Castle,     1^  ^   -  ^-  / 
was  commenced:  this  was  subsequently  completed  in  a  style  of  great 
magnificence,  by  the  order  of  Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy,  who,  in  the 
year  1030,  had  been  preserved  from  shipwreck  here,  by  the  exertions  o#, 
the  Guernsey  fishermen.     Little  more  than  the  shell  of  this  structure, 
consisting  of  the  outer  walls  and  the  flanking  towers  of  the  old  portal, 
now  exists.    The  Normans  afterwards  erected  two  other  very  strong 
fortresses,  one  of  which  has  now  wholly  disappeared ;  the  shattered      «,              ^ 
ruins  of  the  other,  from  its  walls  being  mantled  with  ivy,  are  known  by      IjyiM-f  U^ 
the  name  of  Ivy  Castle.  — — If 

The  French,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  twice  held  possession  of 
Guernsey.  The  island  remained  loyal  to  the  Grown  during  the  Civil 
War,  at  which  period  it  was  twice  besieged  by  the  forces  of  the  Pailia- 
ment ;  but  the  inhabitants,  after  a  protracted  defence,  were  ultimately 
obliged  to  surrender  on  honourable  terms.     During  the  Revolution,  in  -^ 

1688,  the  inland  fortification,  called  Castle  Comet,  which  had  been       •- 
garrisoned  with  Roman  Catholic  soldiers  by  James  1 1.,  was  taken  by  a 
well-concerted  stratagem,  on  the  part  of  the  officers  of  the  Protestant 
Boldiery  and  the  magistrates  of  St.  Peter's.    Fort  George,  a  regular 


534     Jersey. — Castles  Elizabeth  and  Mont  Orgueil. 

fortification   on  the  heights,   was  begun  in    1775,  and   named  after 
George  III.:  it  is  considered  to  be  of  great  strength. 

Castle  Comet,  a  venerable  pile  of  very  high  antiquity,  is  about  a  mile 
/    and  a  half  to  seav?ard,  and  situated  on  a  rocky  islet  of  St.  Peter's  Port. 
It  is  an  important  defence  to  the  harbour,  and  has  sustained  several 
sieges.     Some  parts  of  the  structure  are  considered  of  Roman  origin. 

Christopher  Viscount  Hatton  w^as  Governor  of  Guernsey  in  1672, 
and,  with  his  family,  in  Castle  Cornet,  was  blown  up,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  powder-magazine  being  struck  with  lightning,  at  mid- 
night. He  was  in  bed,  was  blown  out  of  the  window,  and  lay  some 
time  on  the  walls  of  the  Castle,  unhurt.  His  mother  and  wife,  with 
several  attendants,  perished ;  but  an  infant  daughter  was  found  the 
next  day,  alive  and  sleeping  in  its  cradle,  under  a  beam  of  the  ruins,  un- 
injured bythe  explosion.  This  was  Anne,  afterwards  married  to  Daniel, 
Earl  of  Winchelsea  and  Nottingham,  by  whom  she  had  issue  five  sons 
and  eight  daughters  ;  besides  ten  other  children,  who  died  young,  and 
seven  who  were  still-born — in  all,  thirty. 


Jersey. — Castles  Elizabeth  and  Mont  Orgueil.  '~^'%^ 

Of  the  Channel  Islands,*  Jersey  is  most  remarkable  for  its  Castles  ^ 
and  warlike  defences,  of  great  importance  at  various  periods  of  its 
history.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  the  island  was  attacked  by 
Du  Guesclin,  Constable  of  France,  but  the  arrival  of  succour  from 
England  prevented  him  succeeding.  In  the  War  of  the  Roses,  it  was 
attacked  by  a  Norman  Baron,  Pierre  de  Breze,  avowedly  for  the 
Lancastrian  party,  but  really  for  the  French  King.  After  holding 
part  of  the  island  for  a  time,  he  was  forced  to  surrender.  Henry  VII., 
while  Earl  of  Richmond,  and  an  exile,  and  Charles  II.  while  an  exile, 
both  before  and  after  his  father's  death,  found  refuge  in  Jersey,  which 
was  held  for  the  King  by  the  valour  and  constancy  of  Sir  George 
Carteret,  until  taken  by  the  Pai-liamentarians,  under  Admiral  Blake 
and  General  Haines. 

During  the  first  American  War,  Jersey  was  thrice  attacked:  first, 
May,  1779,  by  an  armament,  with  a  land  force  of  5000  or  6000  men, 
under  the  Prince  of  Nassau,  but  the  attempts  to  land  were  i-epulsed. 


•  In  the  French  journal  Cosmos,  in  1S70,  it  is  asserted  that  it  has  been 
demonstrated  by  reference  to  autlientic  docunuMils  that  Guernsey  and  Jersey 
bavc  sunk  more  than  fifteen  yards  during  the  last  five  centuries. 


Elizabeth  Castle,  Jersey.  ^3- 

Secondly,  the  French  fleet  was  attacked  and  destroyed  by  Sir  Jamea 
Wallace.  Thirdly,  December,  1780,  the  Baron  Rullecourt  landed 
with  700  men,  took  possession  of  the  town  of  St.  Helier,  made 
the  Lieutenaiit-General  Major  Corbet  prisoner,  and  induced  him  to 
sign  a  capitulation.  The  British  troops  and  island  militia,  under 
Major  Pierson,  next  in  command,  refused  to  recognise  the  capitulation, 
and  attacking  the  French,  killed  Rullecourt,  with  the  greater  part  of 
his  men,  and  obliged  the  rest  to  surrender.  Major  Pierson  fell  in  the 
beginning  of  the  attack. 

On  approaching  the  island,  the  fantastic  outline  of  the  Corbicre 
promontory,  on  the  western  side,  is  very  striking.  A\^hen  first  seen 
through  the  ha/.e  of  morning,  it  resembles  a  huge  elephant  supporting 
an  embattled  tower ;  a  little  after  it  assumes  the  similitude  of  a  gigantic 
warrior  in  a  recumbent  posture,  armed  cap-a-pie;  this  apparition 
vanishes,  and  in  its  stead  rises  a  fortalice  in  miniature,  with  pigmy 
sentinels  stationed  on  its  ramparts. 

The  bay  of  St.  Aubin  is  embraced  by  a  crescent  of  smiling  eminences 
thickly  sprinkled  with  villas  and  orchards.  St.  Helier  crouches  at  the 
base  of  a  lofty  rock  that  forms  the  eastern  cape :  the  village  of  St.  Aubin 
is  similarly  placed  near  Noinnont  Point,  the  westward  promontory ; 
and  between  the  two  stretches  a  sandy  shelving  beach,  studded  with 
martello  towers.  The  centre  of  the  bay  is  occupied  by  Elizabeth  v^ 
Castle — a  fortress  erected  on  a  lofty  insulated  rock,  the  jagged  pinnacles 
of  which  shoot  up  in  grotesque  array  round  the  battlements.  The 
harbour  is  artificial,  but  capacious  and  safe,  and  so  completely  com- 
manded by  the  Castle,  as  to  be  nearly  inaccessible  to  an  enemy.  The 
jetties  and  quays  are  of  great  extent  and  superior  masonry. 

The  rock  on  which  Elizabeth  Castle  is  perched  is  nearly  a  mile  in 
circuit,  and  accessible  on  foot  at  low  water  by  means  of  a  mole,  formed 
of  loose  stones  and  rubbish,  absurdly  termed  "the  Bridge,"  which 
connects  it  with  the  mainland.  In  times  of  war  with  France,  this 
fortress  was  a  post  of  great  importance,  and  strongly  garrisoned  ;  but 
in  these  piping  days  of  peace,  will  be  found  only  one  sentinel  pacing 
his  lonely  round  on  the  ramparts.  The  barracks  are  desolate — the 
cannon  dismounted — and  grass  suflFicient  to  have  grazed  a  whole  herd, 
has  sprung  up  in  the  courts,  and  among  the  pyramids  of  shot  and  shelli 
piled  up  at  the  embrasures. 

The  hermitage  of  St.  Elericus,  the  patron  saint  of  Jersey,  a  holy 
man  who  sufiered  martyrdom  at  the  time  the  pagan  Normans  invaded 
the  island,  is  said  to  have  occupied  an  isolated  peak,  quite  detached 
from  the  fort"*:';ations,  which  commands  a  noble  seaward  view  of  the 


53^  Elizabeth  Castle,  Jersey. 

bay.  A  small  arched  building  of  rude  masonry,  having  the  semblance 
of  a  watch-tower,  covers  a  sort  of  crypt  excavated  in  the  rock,  into 
which,  by  dint  of  perseverance,  a  man  might  introduce  himself ;  and 
this,  if  we  are  to  credit  tradition,  is  the  cave  and  bed  of  the  ascetic. 
Here,  like  the  inspired  seer  of  Patmos,  he  could  congratulate  himselt 
on  having  shaken  off  communion  with  mankind.  Cliffs  shattered  by 
the  warfare  of  the  elements — a  restless  and  irresistible  sea,  intersected 
by  perilous  reefs — and  the  blue  firmament — were  the  only  visible  ob- 
jects to  distract  the  solemn  contemplations  of  his  soul. 

(An  Abbey,  dedicated  to  St.  Elericus,  once  occupied  the  site  of 
Elizabeth  Castle.     The  fortress  was  founded  on  the  ruins  of  this  edifice 
in  1551,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.,  and  according  to  tradition,  all  the 
\y  bells  in  the  island,  with  the  reservation  of  one  to  each  church,  were 
seized  by  authority,  and  ordered  to  be  sold,  to  defray  in  part  the  ex- 
pense of  its  erection.     The  confiscated  metal  was  shipped  for  St.  Malo, 
where  it  was  expected  to  bi'ing  a  high  price;  but  the  vessel  foundered 
in  leaving  the  harbour,  to  the  triumph  of  all  good  Catholics,  who  re- 
garded the  disaster  as  a  special  manifestation  of  divine  wrath  at  the 
sacrilegious  spoliation. 
'       The  works  of  Fort  Regent  occupy  the  precipitous  hill  that  overhangs 
the  harbour,  and  completely  command  Elizabeth   Castle,  and  indeed 
the  whole  bay.     They  are  of  great  strength,  and  immense  masses  of 
rock  have  been  blown  away  from  the  cliff  in  order  to  render  it  im- 
pregnable. The  barracks  are  bomb-proof,  and  scooped  in  the  ramparts ; 
and  the  parade  ground,  which  in  shape  exactly  resembles  a  coffin,  forms 
the  nucleus  of  the  fortifications.     This  fortress  has  been  completed 
since  the  Peace ;  but  little  of  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  warlike 
preparation  is  visible  on  its  ramparts.  *  The  prospect  seaward  is  mag- 
nificent, and  includes  a  vast  labyrinth  of  rocks  called  the  Violet  Bank, 
which  fringes  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  island.     One  glimpse  ot 
this  submarine  garden  is  sufllicient   to  satisfy  the  most  apprehensive 
patriot,  that  Jersey    is  in  a   great  measure  independent   of  *'  towers 
along  the  steep." 
-  ■  ^      About  three  miles  inland  from  St.  Heller,  is  a  singular  structure 
-     named  Prince's  Tower,  erected  on  an  artificial  mound  or  tumulus,  and 
K      embowered  in  a  grove  of  fine  trees. 
P  But  it  is  the  tratlitionary  history  of  Prince's  Tower  that  renders  it 

interesting  in  the  eyes  of  tlie  Islanders.  In  former  times  it  was  known 
by  the  name  of  La  Hogue-Hye,  and  the  following  legentl,  quoted  ti oin 
Le  Livre  noir  dt  Coutances,  give3  t!ic  origin  of  its  celebrity  :-  -In  le- 
mote  times,  a  moor  or  fen  in  this  part  of  Jersey,  was  tl.e  retreat  of  a 


J 


Prince  s  Tower,  Jersey,  537 

monstrous  serpent  or  dragon,  which  spread  terror  and  devastation 
throughout  the  island.  At  length  a  valorous  Norman,  the  Seigneur  de 
Hambye,  undertook  to  attempt  its  destruction,  which,  after  a  terrible 
conflict,  he  accomplished.  He  was  accompanied  in  this  adventure  by 
a  vassal  of  whose  fidelity  he  had  no  suspicion,  but  who,  seeing  his  lord 
overcome  by  fatigue,  after  having  vanquished  the  reptile,  suddenly  be- 
thought himself  of  monopolizing  the  glory  of  the  action.  Instigated 
by  this  foul  ambition,  he  assassinated  his  lord,  and,  returning  to  Nor- 
mandy, promulgated  a  fictitious  narrative  of  the  encounter ;  and,  to 
further  his  iniquitous  views,  presented  a  forged  letter,  which  he  said 
had  been  written  by  De  Hambye  to  his  widow  just  before  his  death, 
enjoining  her  to  reward  his  faithful  servant,  by  accepting  him  as  her 
second  husband.  Reverence  for  the  last  injunction  of  her  deceased 
lord  induced  the  lady  to  obey,  and  she  was  united  to  his  murderer. 
But  the  exultation  of  the  homicidal  slave  was  of  short  duration.  His 
sleep  was  disturbed  by  horrid  dreams ;  and  at  length,  in  one  of  his 
nightly  paroxysms,  he  disclosed  the  extent  of  his  villany.  On  being 
aiTested  and  questioned,  he  made  a  full  confession,  and  was  tried,  found 
guilty,  and  publicly  executed.  De  Hambye's  widow,  in  memory  of 
her  lord,  caused  a  tumulus  of  earth  to  be  raised  on  the  spot  where  he 
was  buried ;  and  on  the  summit  she  built  a  chapel,  with  a  tower  so 
lofty  as  to  be  visible  from  her  own  mansion  .it  Coutances. 

So  much  for  the  fable.  As  to  the  word  Hogue,  there  are  several  places 
in  Jersey  called  Hotigties,  which  are  always  situated  on  a  rising  ground. 
The  word  has  evidently  originated  from  the  German  hocb,  from  which 
is  derived  our  English  high.  A  hougue,  therefore,  means  a  mound  or 
hillock,  and  in  the  present  instance,  the  addition  of  bye  is  obviously  a 
contraction  of  Hambye ;  and,  in  accordance  with  the  foregoing 
tradition,  means  literally  the  barroiv  or  tomb  of  the  Seigneur  de 
Hambye. 

The  Chapel  at  la  Hogue  is  said  to  have  been  rebuilt  in  imitation  of 
the  Holy  Sepulchre  at  Jerusalem,  by  one  of  the  Popish  deans  of  Jersey, 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  VHI.  La  Hogue-bye  remained  for  many  years 
in  a  dilapidated  state, till  about  1790,  when  the  late  Admiral  d'Auvergne, 
a  native  of  Jersey,  better  known  under  his  French  title  of  Duke  of 
Bouillon,  became  its  owner  by  purchase,  and  hence  it  obtained  its  pre- 
sent name.  At  his  death,  in  1816,  it  was  purchased  by  the  late  lieu- 
tenant-governor, Lieutenant-General  Sir  Hugh  Mackay  Gordon,  whose 
heirs  afterwards  sold  it  to  Francis  le  Breton,  Esq. 

The  most  prominent  object  in  the  noble  panoramic  view  from  the 
top  of  Prince's  Tower,  \t  a  huge  fortress  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 


53 S  Castle  of  Mont  Orgueil,  Jersey. 

v/  island,  called  the  Castle  of  Mont  Orgueil.  It  crests  a  lofty  conical 
rock,  that  forms  the  noithern  headland  of  Grouville  Bay,  and  looks 
down,  like  a  grim  giant,  on  the  subjacent  strait.  The  fortifications 
encircle  the  cone  in  picturesque  tiers,  and  the  apex  of  the  mountain 
shoots  up  in  the  centre  of  them,  as  high  as  the  flagstaff,  which  is  in  fact 
planted  upon  it.  During  war  a  strong  garrison  constantly  occupied 
Mont  Orgueil,  but  now  a  corporal  and  two  privates  of  artillery  com- 
pose the  whole  military  force.  A  small  circular  apartment,  forming 
one  of  the  suite  appropriated  to  officers,  was  the  habitation  of 
Charles  II.  when  a  wanderer.  This  Prince,  when  his  unfortunate 
father  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  regicidal  party,  found  a  loyal  welcome 
in  Jei-sey.  Here  he  was  recognised  as  King,  when  in  England  they 
sought  his  blood:  here  he  remained  in  security,  when  his  fatherland 
afforded  him  no  asylum.  During  his  lonely  sojourn  in  this  remote 
portion  of  his  hereditary  dominions,  he  is  said  to  have  employed  him- 
self in  making  a  survey  and  delineating  a  map  of  the  island.  The 
natives,  flattered  by  the  confidence  he  reposed  in  them,  and  justly 
proud  of  eight  centuries  of  unblemished  loyalty  to  the  throne  of  Great 
Britain,  still  refer  to  his  residence  as  a  memorable  event ;  and  in  no 
other  part  of  the  British  dominions  is  the  memory  of  the  "  merry 
monarch"  more  respected.  When  Cromwell,  after  the  disastrous  issue 
of  the  battle  of  Worcester,  sent  an  expedition,  under  Admiral  Blake, 
to  reduce  the  island,  it  made  a  most  gallant  and  protracted  defence ; 
and  had  not  circumstances  conspired  to  fiivour  the  invaders,  their 
victory  would  have  been  dearly  purchased. 
t        Mont  Orgueil,  in  point  of  historical  association,  is  by  far  the  most 

i  interesting  spot  in  Jersey.  A  part  of  the  fortifications,  according  to 
tradition,  is  coeval  with  Csesar's  incursions  into  Gaul ;  and  the  islanders 
hold  it  famous  in  their  oldest  story,  and  of  antiquity  beyond  record. 
In  1374,  the  celebrated  Constable  du  Gucsclin  passed  over  from  l^re- 
tagne  at  the  head  of  a  large  army,  including  some  of  the  bravest  knights 
of  France,  and  encamped  before  this  fortress,  then  called  Gouray 
Castle,  into  which  the  principal  inhabitants  had  retired  for  safety ;  but 
after  a  siege  of  several  months,  he  was  obliged  to  draw  off  his  forces  in 

^/despair,  and  quit  the  island.  >/Henry  V.  added  much  to  the  strength 
and  beauty  of  Gouray — made  it  a  depot  of  arms,  and  conferred  on  it 
Ithe  proud  nameof  Mont  Orgueil.  About  J461,  Nanfant,  the  governor, 
a  dependent  of  Henry  VI.,  was  prevailed  upon,  by  an  alder  of  Queen 
Margaret,  to  surrender  it  to  Surdeval,  a  Frenchman,  agent  of  Peter  de 
Brc/.e,  Count  of  Maulcvricr ;  but  though  de  Bre/c  kept  possession  of 
it  for  several  years,  the    natives,   under  the  command  of  Philip  de 


The  Island  of  A  Iderney.  5  39 

Carteret,  Seigneur  of  St.  Ouen,  a  family  long  illustrious  in  Jersey 
annals,  prevented  him  from  completely  subjugating  the  island.  Sir 
Richard  Harlislon,  vice-admiral  of  England,  afterwards  recaptured 
Mont  Orgueil,  and  put  an  end  to  Maulevrier's  usurpation. 

The  Romans,  the  pioneers  of  discovery  and  civilization  in  Europe, 
conferred  on  Jersey  the  name  of  Caesarea,  in  honour  of  their  leader ; 
and  Caesar  and  Tacitus  concur  in  describing  it  as  a  stronghold  of 
Druidism,  of  which  worship  many  monuments  still  exist.  The  aborigines 
were  doubtless  sprung  from  the  Celtic  tribes  spread  over  the  adjacent 
continent ;  but  the  present  inhabitants  are  universally  recognised  as  the 
lineal  descendants  of  the  warlike  Normans,  who,  under  the  auspices  of 
the  famous  Rollo,  conquered  and  established  themselves  in  the  north  of 
F'rance  in  the  ninth  century.  It  was  first  attached  to  the  British  crown 
at  the  Conquest ;  and  though  repeated  descents  have  been  made  on  it 
by  France  during  the  many  wars  waged  between  the  countries  since 
that  remote  era,  none  of  them  were  attended  with  such  success  as  to 
lead  to  a  permanent  occupation  of  the  island. 

The  introduction  of  Christianity,  and  final  extirpation  of  idolatry,  is 
said  to  have  occurred  in  the  sixth  century.  In  the  latter  days  of  the 
reign  of  Popery,  Jersey  formed  part  of  the  diocese  of  Coutances  in 
Normandy,  where  the  ancient  records  of  the  island  were  deposited ; 
but  at  the  Reformation,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  it  was  attached  to 
the  see  of  Winchester — an  annexation,  however,  merely  nominal,  for 
the  island  is  in  reality  exempt  from  the  dominion  of  the  Church  of 
England. 

♦ 

The  Isle  of  Alderney. 

Aldemey,  a  dependency  of  Guernsey,  and  the  nearest  of  the  group 
of  islands  to  the  French  coast,  is  about  seven  miles  from  Cape  La 
Hogue,  in  Normandy.  Upon  its  rocks  Prince  William,  only  son  of 
Henry  I.,  perished  by  shipwreck,  in  the  year  1120,  and  in  1744,  the 
Victory,  of  no  guns,  was  lost  with  1100  men.  The  island  has  now 
an  extensive  harbour  of  refuge.  An  ancient  monastery  at  Longy  Bay 
serves  as  a  military  depot  and  hospital.  On_the  heights  above  the  Bay 
of  Longy  are  the  ruins  of  a  Castle,  which  bears  the  name  of  Essex 
Farm,  from  having  been  for  a  time  the  residence  of  the  Earl  of  Essex, 
the  favourite  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  Normans  settled  here  at  a  very 
early  period,  and  the  island  remained  under  the  English  monarchs, 
who  were  also  Dukes  of  Normandy,  when  their  continental  dominion* 
were  lost. 


540 


SOMERSETSHIRE. 

The  Isle  of  Athelney  and  King  Alfred's  Monastery. 

The  Isle  of  Athelney,  though  it  has  ceased  to  be  applicable,  is  retained 
by  a  rising  ground  in  the  county  of  Somerset ;  bounded  on  the  south-east 
by  the  river  Tune  (a  tributary  of  the  Parret),  over  which  is  a  w^ooden 
bridge,  still  called  Athelney  bridge.  The  whole  "  island"  contains 
about  ICO  acres,  and  in  1791,  formed  a  compact  farm. 

This  spot  was  anciently  surrounded  by  almost  impassable  marshes, 
and  acquired  celebrity  as  the  place  in  which  the  great  Alfi-ed  found 
temporary  shelter  while  the  Danes  overran  Wessex  ;  and  in  his  seclu- 
sion here,  the  sacred  book  which  Alfi-ed  read — a  selection  from  the 
Psalms,  with  the  daily  prayers,  according  to  the  ancient  usage  of  the 
Church,  and  which  he  always  treasured  in  his  bosom — afforded  him 
constant  comfort  and  support. 

Athelney  is  thus  described  by  William  of  Malmesbury :  "  Athelney 
is  not  an  island  of  the  sea,  but  is  so  inaccessible  on  account  of  bogs  and 
the  inundations  of  the  lakes,  that  it  cannot  be  got  to  but  in  a  boat.  It 
has  a  very  large  wood  of  alders,  which  harbours  stags,  wild  goats,  and 
many  beasts  of  that  kind.  The  firm  land,  which  is  only  two  acres  in 
breadth,  contains  a  little  monastery,  and  dwellings  for  monks.  Its 
founder  was  King  Alfred." 

Sir  John  Spelman's  account  of  it  is  nearly  similar,  except  that  he 
states,  in  the  height  of  summer  it  could  be  reached  by  a  man  on  foot. 
Here,  he  adds,  the  King  made  himself  a  secure  hold  or  receptacle,  from 
whence,  issuing  secretly,  he  often  made  sallies  out  upon  the  Danes. 
The  Abbey  appears  to  have  been  founded  in  878  or  888.  The  build- 
ings, judging  from  parts  of  them  discovered  at  different  times,  are  sup- 
posed to  have  been  very  magnificent.  The  conventual  church  was 
partly  rebuilt  in  132 1  ;  but  not  a  vestige  of  the  whole  now  remains, 
and  the  field  on  which  the  Abbey  stood  has  been  converted  into  tillage. 

On  the  island  is  a  stone  pillar,  inclosed  by  an  iron  railing,  designed 
to  point  the  traveller's  eye  to  the  spot  so  closely  associated  with  Alfred's 
earliest  liistorical  studies — with  the  burnt  cakes,  the  angry  housewife, 
and  the  casti^jated  King.    The  pillar  bears  the  following  inscription:-^ 


The  Tradition  of  Stanton  Drew.  54' 

"  King  Alfred  the  Great,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  879,  having  been 
defeated  by  the  Danes,  fled  for  refuge  to  the  forest  of  Athelney,  where 
he  lay  concealed  fiom  his  enemies  for  the  space  of  a  whole  year.  He 
soon  after  regained  possession  of  his  throne,  and  in  grateful  remem- 
brance of  the  protection  he  had  received,  under  the  favour  of  Heaven, 
he  erected  a  monastery  on  this  spot,  and  endowed  it  with  all  the  lands 
contained  in  the  Isle  of  Athelney.  To  perpetuate  the  memorial  of  so 
remarkable  an  incident  in  the  life  of  that  illustrious  prince,  this  edifice 
was  founded  by  John  Slade,  Esq.,  of  Mamsell,  the  proprietor  of  Athel- 
ney, and  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  North  Petherton,  a.d.  1801." 


The  Tradition  of  Stanton  Drew. 

At  the  little  village  of  Stanton  Drew,  in  the  county  of  Somerset, 
about  seven  miles  east  of  the  road  between  Bristol  and  Wells,  stands  a 
well-known  Druidical  monument,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.  Stukeley, 
is  more  ancient  than  that  at  Abury.  It  consists  of  four  groups  of  stones, 
forming  (or  rather  having  ft)rmed  when  complete)  two  circles,  ind  two 
other  figures,  one  an  ellipse.  Although  the  largest  stones  are  much  inferior 
in  their  dimensions  to  those  at  Stonehenge  and  Abury,  they  are  by  no 
means  contemptible,  some  of  them  being  nine  feet  in  height,  and  twenty- 
two  feet  in  girth.  There  is  a  curious  tradition,  very  prevalent  among 
the  country-people,  respecting  the  origin  of  these  remains,  which  they 
designate  the  "Evil  Wedding,"  for  the  following  good  and  substantial 
reasons  : — Many  hundred  years  ago  (on  a  Saturday  evening),  a  newly- 
married  ccuple,  with  their  relatives  and  friends,  met  on  the  spot  now 
covered  by  these  ruins,  to  celebrate  their  nuptials.  Here  they  feasted 
and  danced  right  merrily  until  the  clock  tolled  the  hour  of  midnight, 
when  the  piper  (a  pious  man)  refused  to  play  any  longer.  This  was 
much  against  the  wish  of  the  guests,  and  so  exasperated  the  bride  (who 
was  fond  of  dancing)  that  she  swore  with  an  oath  she  would  not  be 
baulked  of  her  enjoyment  by  a  beggarly  piper,  but  would  find  a  sub- 
stitute, if  she  went  to  the  infernal  regions  to  fetch  one.  She  had  scarcely 
uttered  these  words,  when  a  venerable  old  man,  with  a  long  beard, 
made  his  appearance,  and  having  listened  to  their  request,  proffered  his 
services,  which  were  right  gladly  accepted.  The  old  gentleman  (who 
was  no  other  than  the  Arch-fiend  himself)  having  taken  the  seat 
vacated  by  the  godly  piper,  commenced  playing  a  slow  and  solemn  air, 
which,  on  the  guests  remonstrating,  he  changed  into  one  more  lively  and 
rapid.    The  company  now  began  to  dance,  but  soon  found  themselvea 


542  Bath  Abbey. 

impelled  round  the  performer  so  rapidly  and  mysteriously,  that  they 
would  all  fain  have  rested.  But  when  they  essayed  to  retire,  they 
found,  to  their  consternation,  that  they  were  moving  faster  and  faster 
round  their  diabolical  musician,  who  had  now  resumed  his  original 
shape. 

Their  cries  for  mercy  were  unheeded,  until  the  first  glimmering  of 
day  warned  the  fiend  that  he  must  depart.  With  such  rapidity  had 
they  moved,  that  the  gay  and  sportive  assembly  were  now  reduced  to  a 
ghastly  troop  of  skeletons.  "  I  leave  you,"  said  the  fiend ,  "  a  monu- 
ment of  my  power  and  your  wickedness,  to  the  end  of  time ;"  which 
saying,  he  vanished.  The  villagers,  on  rising  in  the  morning,  found  the 
meadow  strewn  with  large  pieces  of  stone,  and  the  pious  piper  lying 
under  a  hedge  half  dead  with  fright,  he  having  been  a  witness  of  the 
whole  transaction. — [Notes  and  Queries,  vol.  iv.  p.  3.) 

On  the  object  and  purpose  of  these  stone  circles  and  avenues  other 
explanations  have  been  offered.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Sussex  Archaeolo- 
gical Society,  in  1869,  Mr.  W.  Long,  the  president,  submitted  whether 
we  may  not  reasonably  assign  their  origin  to  Phoenician  influence  reach- 
ing these  shores  through  that  energetic  maritime  people,  the  Veneti,  who 
inhabited  a  portion  of  the  coasts  of  Armorican  Gaul ;  who  were  still 
carrying  on  a  brisk  trade  with  Britain  in  the  time  of  Caesar ;  and  in 
whose  district  were  the  remarkable  stone  structures  of  Karnac  and  its 
neighbourhood.  The  traces  of  the  Bclgic  occupation  of  this  district  are 
to  be  seen  in  the  camps,  barrows,  circles,  hut  circles,  trackways,  and 
cattle  enclosures  which  abound  on  the  Mendip  and  neighbouring  hills. 
It  is  probable  that,  although  the  use  of  bronze,  both  in  the  East  and  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe,  had  prevailed  for  a  considerable  previous 
period,  the  Belgic  race  was  the  first  which  introduced  the  bronze  age 
into  Britain.  Even  in  the  time  of  Caesar,  bronze  was  an  imported 
article ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  the  Phoenicians,  if  they  found  it  to 
their  advantage  to  have  settlements  on  these  coasts,  would  allow  the 
native  population  to  possess  any  weapons  of  a  more  Ibrmidable  character 
than  their  sling  stones  and  arrow-heads  of  flint* 


Bath  Abbey. 
Bath,  the  chief  city  of  Somersetshire,  surrounded  by  an  amphi- 
theatre of  hills,  in  its  name  implies  the  circumstance  to  which,  from  the 
earliest  ages,  it  owes  its  importance,  which  has  been  exaggerated  by 
fable.  Bladud,  a  legendary  King  of  England,  is  storied  to  have  dis- 
covered the  water*  800  years  B.C.,  and  to  have  built  the  city,  and  de^ 


Bristol:  its  Monastery  and  Castle.  543 

dicated  its  medicinal  springs  to  Minerva;  and  " Bladud's  Well"  has 
passed  into  a  proverb  of  sparkling  inexhaustibility.  Leaving  fiction, — ■ 
the  Romans,  passionately  attached  to  the  luxury  which  the  hot  springs 
of  Bath  afforded  them,  made  it  one  of  their  principal  stations,  and  in  the 
country  round  Bath,  and  in  the  city,  foundations  of  extensive  buildings 
have  been  traced,  with  the  remains  of  the  baths,  altars  with  inscriptions, 
tessellated  pavements,  ornamented  bricks,  urns,  vases,  lachrynnatories, 
coins,  &c.  No  city  in  England  can  produce  such  a  collection  of  local 
Roman  remains.  During  the  time  of  the  Romans,  a.d.  444,  the  city 
extended  12,000  feet  in  length,  1150  in  breadth,  and  was  surrounded 
by  a  wall  9  feet  thick,  and  20  feet  high. 

A  community  of  Religious  existed  here  from  the  earliest  ages  of 
Christianity  in  Britain,  who  had  their  house  near  to  the  springs  and 
baths.  The  Abbey  of  Bath  was  built  by  King  Oft'a,  about  775,  and 
re-founded  in  970,  by  King  Edgar.  The  constitution  of  the  Society 
underwent  several  changes,  and  at  last  the  house  and  all  its  possessions, 
which  were  extensive  and  valuable,  were  surrendered  to  the  Crown  by 
William  HoUoway,  the  last  Prior,  June  29th,  1539.  What  is  now 
called  the  Abbey  Church  was  the  church  of  this  community,  and  was 
connected  on  the  south  side  with  the  conventual  dwellings.  An  older 
church  having  fallen  into  decay,  the  building  of  the  present  edifice  was 
begun  by  Bishop  Oliver  King,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.,  at  the  time 
of  whose  death  it  was  unfinished,  and  continued  to  be  so  when  the 
Priory  was  dissolved. 

The  monks  of  the  Abbey  of  Bath,  even  to  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, were  accustomed  to  show  to  visitors  certain  manuscripts  which 
they  affirmed  to  be  the  gift  of  King  Athelstan.  Two  very  ancient 
manuscripts,  which  there  is  the  strongest  reason  to  believe  once  be- 
longed to  him,  are  preserved  among  the  Cottonian  Manuscripts  in  the 
British  Museum  ;  one  of  them  is  supposed  to  be  the  very  copy  of  the 
Gospels  on  which  the  Saxon  kings  took  the  oath  at  their  coronation. 


Bristol :  its  Monastery  and  Castle. 

Bristol  has  been  traced  to  upwards  of  forty  etymological  origins ; 
but  the  only  modes  of  writing  the  name  that  are  material  are  Bristuit, 
and  Bristow.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Shaw  derives  Bristol  from  the  Celtic 
words,  "  bras,"  quick,  rapid,  or  "  braos,"  a  gap,  chasm,  or  rent,  and 
"  tiule,"  a  stream ;  a  derivation  entitled  to  some  credit.  Chatterton 
derives  Bristow  from  Brictric,  the  last  King  of  Wessex,  who  died  by 


I^-H  Bristol:  its  Monastery  and  Castle. 

poison,  A.D.  800,  supposing  it  to  have  been  originally  called  Brictriec- 
stow.  Bristow,  or  a  very  similar  name,  prevailed  from  10^4  to  1204; 
and  a  Brictric  was  Lord  of  Bristol  at  the  earlier  of  these  tvv^o  dates. 
Still,  there  is  a  more  probable  origin  :  the  Saxon  word  "  brie"  signifies 
a  break,  a  breach ;  and  brie  would  thus  be  a  literal  translation  of 
Odor ;  dropping  then  the  British  prefix  "  caer,"  and  substituting  the 
Saxon  suffix  "  stow,"  we  arrive  at  once  at  Bristow,  retaining  the  name 
which  is  most  descriptive  of  the  locality,  and  obtaining  pure  Saxon  in 
exchange  for  pure  British.  {Penyiy  Cyclopa:dia.')  The  Romans  obtained 
early  possession  of  Bristol,  and  invested  it  with  a  wall  and  gates,  which 
enclosed  the  area  now  the  most  central  portion  of  the  town.  When 
Cerdic,  a.d.  495,  first  carried  the  Saxon  arms  into  Western  England, 
Bristol  formed  part  of  the  dominions  of  the  princes  of  Cornwall.  It 
is  recoi-ded  that  "  a  vast  army  of  Sarazens  (pagans),  from  Denmark, 
made  an  attack  on  Bristol  with  30,000  men,  in  which  they  were  so 
completely  defeated  that  not  five  of  them  escaped."  Upon  the  ruins  of 
the  ancient  government  was  founded  the  Saxon  kingdom  of  Mercia,  of 
which  Bristol  is  presumed  to  have  been  the  frontier  city,  bordering 
upon  the  neighbouring  Saxon  state  of  Wessex,  and  divided  from  it  by 
the  Avon.  Caer  Odor  had  now  become  Bric-stow;  and  in  596, 
lordan,  the  companion  of  Augustine,  in  his  mission  for  the  conversion 
of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  preached  on  the  spot  now  called  College  Green, 
which  subsequently  became  the  site  of  the  monastery,  of  great  magnifi- 
cence, built  1140-1148,  according  to  the  inscription  on  the  tomb  of  the 
founder,  Robert  Fitzharding,  the  first  Lord  of  Berkeley.  It  is  also 
mentioned  by  Leland  as  the  monastery  of  the  Black  Canons  of  St. 
Augustine,  within  the  city  walls.  Fitzharding  is  by  some  represented 
as  an  opulent  citizen  of  Bristol ;  but  generally  as  a  younger  son  or 
grandson  of  the  King  of  Denmark,  and  as  the  youthful  companion  of 
Henry  II.,  and  who  betaking  himself  from  the  sunshine  of  royal  friend- 
ship, became  a  canon  of  the  monastery  he  himself  had  founded.  In  this 
congenial  solitude  he  died  in  uncaged  75.  The  Cathedral  church  is 
of  the  time  of  Edward  I. ;  but  the  great  gateway  is  round-arclied,  with 
rich  mouldings  in  the  Saxon  taste ;  this  gateway  and  the  chapter- 
house are  all  that  remains  of  the  ancient  monastery.  It  suffered  at  the 
Dissolution  ;  but  in  the  Civil  Wars,  the  ruthless  soldiery  violated  the 
tombs  of  tlie  dead  by  every  indignity  and  profanation. 

To  the  early  part  of  the  Norman  period,  the  addition  of  the  second 
wall  around  the  town  is  ascribed:  probably  it  was  built,  together  with 
the  Castle,  by  Godfrey,  Bishop  of  Coutances,  in  Normandy,  and  of 
Exeter,  in  England,  who  followed  the  Conqueror  to  this  country.    The 


Bristol:  its  Monastery  and  Castle  545 

fortress  is  not  mentioned  by  name  in  Domesday  Book,  compiled  1086; 
and  the  first  historical  notice  of  it  occurs  on  the  death  of  William  I^ 
when  it  was  fortified  and  held  by  Godfrey  on  behalf  of  Robert,  the 
Conqueror's  eldest  son.  On  the  final  success  of  Rufus,  Godfiey  re- 
tired into  Normandy.  The  town  was  charged  with  the  maintenance 
of  the  Castle,  and  in  Domesday  Book  there  is  recorded  2S/.  as  the  pre- 
cise salary  annually  paid  by  the  town  to  the  Constable  of  the  Castle  for 
several  subsequent  reigns.  To  Robert  the  first  (Nonnan)  Earl  of 
Gloucester,  after  the  capture  of  Robert  Duke  of  Normandy,  Henry 
confided  his  unfortunate  brother,  whom  the  Earl  sometime  confined  in 
the  fortress  at  Bristol.  On  the  death  of  Henry,  Earl  Robert  maintained 
Bristol  and  its  Castle  on  behalf  of  his  sister,  Maud,  against  the  usurpa- 
tion of  Stephen.  The  edifice  he  is  said  to  have  built ;  but  as  a  castle 
was  certainly  in  existence,  he  probably  enlarged  its  site  and  added  to 
its  defences  only ;  and  tliis  he  appears  to  have  done  most  effectually, 
for  under  him  it  became  one  of  the  largest  and  strongest  fortresses  in 
the  kingdom.  It  occupied  about  six  acres  of  ground,  and  William 
Botoner,  suniamcd  Wycestre,  states  that  the  walls  were  25  feet  thick 
at  the  base,  and  9^  at  the  top.  Stephen  was  brought  to  this  fortress 
after  his  capture  at  the  battle  of  Lincoln,  1 140,  and  kept  prisoner  until 
the  following  year,  when  he  was  exchanged  for  Earl  Robert.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  son.  Earl  William.  Heniy  H.,  on  his  accession 
(i  154),  took  the  towns,  castles,  &c.,  which  belonged  to  the  Crown,  into 
his  own  hands ;  but  twenty  years  elapsed  before  he  obtained  possession 
of  the  Casle  of  Bristol,  when  (1175)  the  Earl  surrendered  it  into  the 
King's  hands,  constituting  the  King's  son  his  heir,  Henry  at  the  same 
time  contracting  for  the  maniage  of  his  son  John  with  Isabel,  the 
Earl's  daughter. 

In  1241,  in  Bristol  Castle,  died  the  Princess  Eleanor,  commonly 
called  "  the  damsell  of  Britain,"  after  a  confinement  of  forty  years.  In 
1326  the  Castle  was  besieged  by  the  forces  of  Queen  Isabella,  and 
Spenser  was  compelled  to  an  unconditional  surrender.  In  1461  Ed- 
ward IV.,  at  Bristol,  in  September,  saw  Sir  Baldwin  Fulford  pass  to 
execution  ;  the  subject  of  "  The  Bristowe  Tragedy,"  by  Ghatterton,  in 
"  Rowley's  Poems." 

During  the  Civil  War  the  sufferings  of  Bristol  between  the  Royalists 
and  Parliament  were  severe :  under  the  latter,  the  sum  of  3000/.  per 
month  was  raised  for  the  defence  of  the  city  and  Castle.  In  the  year 
1646  the  Castle  was  demolished  by  order  of  Parliament,  their  last  and 
best  act  with  regard  to  Bristol  under  the  Commonwealth. 

N  N 


546 

Dunster  Castle  and  Priory. 

At  Dunster,  a  town  twenty-one  miles  west-north-west  of  Taunton, 
the  West  Saxon  Kings  had  a  fortress  during  the  period  of  the  Hep- 
tarchy. It  was  called  Torre  (tower),  by  which  name  it  appears  in 
Domesday,  where  the  manor  is  said  to  belong  to  William  de  Mohun, 
who  had  a  Castle  here.  This  fortress  afterwards  obtained  the  name  of 
Dunne's  Ton'e  (tower  on  the  downs),  now  Dunster.  The  Mohuns, 
Earls  of  Somerset,  supported  the  Empress  Maud  against  Stephen.  In 
the  reign  of  Edward  III.  the  Castle  passed  by  sale,  on  the  failure  of  the 
male  line  of  the  Mohuns,  to  the  Luttrell  family.  It  was  a  military  post 
of  the  Royalists  in  the  Civil  War  of  Charles  I.,  and  was  taken  by  the 
Marquis  of  Hertford  in  1643.  In  1644-5,  March  20,  the  Parliamen- 
tarians from  Taunton  went  to  Sir  Hugh  Windham's  house  at  Saundle, 
and  pillaged  it,  without  even  respecting  the  women,  whose  clothes  they 
tore  off  their  backs.  Sir  Hugh  escaped  at  the  back  door,  and  sent  word 
to  Colonel  Windham,  Governor  of  Dunster  Castle,  who,  with  only 
thirty  horse,  instantly  marched  after  them.  He  overtook  them  in  a 
field  near  Nettlecombe,  full  250  horse  strong,  and  defeated  them,  taking 
five  prisoners  and  fourteen  horses,  besides  ammunition. 

In  1644-5  the  siege  of  Dunster  Castle  was  raised.  The  Parliamenta- 
rians sent  this  message  to  the  Governor:  "If  you  will  deliver  up  the 
Castle,  you  shall  have  fair  quarter :  if  not,  expect  no  mercy,  your 
Mother  shall  be  in  front  to  receive  the  first  fury  of  your  cannon.  We 
expect  your  answer."  The  Governor  returned  the  following  brave  re- 
fusal :  "  If  you  doe  what  you  threaten,  you  doe  the  most  barbarous  and 
villanous  act  [that]  was  ever  done.  My  Mother  I  honour,  but  the  cause 
I  fight  for,  and  the  masters  I  serve,  are  God  and  the  King.  Mother 
doe  you  forgive  me,  and  give  me  your  blessing,  and  lett  the  rcbells  an- 
swer for  spilling  that  blood  of  yours,  which  I  would  save  with  the  loss 
of  mine  own,  if  I  had  enough  for  both  my  master  and  your  selfe." 
His  mother  replied :  "  Sonne,  I  forgive  thee,  and  pray  God  to  bless 
thee  for  this  brave  resolution.  If  I  live,  I  shall  love  thee  the  better  for 
it:  God's  will  be  done."  Lord  Wcntworth,  Sir  Richard  Grenvill,  and 
Colonel  Wcbbe,  however,  came  to  their  relief,  rescued  the  mother, 
relieved  the  fortress,  took  1000  prisoners,  and  put  the  whole  army  to  the 
rout.  The  Castle  is  a  building  of  the  Eli/abcthan  period  and  style, 
liaving  behind  a  richly-wooded  park. — (Tymms's  Family  Topographer.) 
It  appears,  however,  that  the  Royalists  were  compelled  to  surrender. 
The  celebrated  William  Prynne  was  imprisoned  for  seven  months  in 
Dunster  Castle  in  1650,  for  writing  against  Cromwell  and  his  paity. 


Taunton  Castle.  547 

There  was  formerly  a  Benedictine  Priory  here,  founded  by  the 
Mohuns,  a  cell  of  the  Abbey  of  St.  Peter  at  Bath.  Before  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  Priory  (which  was  adjacent  to  the  church,  and  of  which 
some  remains  still  exist),  in  consequence  of  a  dispute  between  the 
parishioners  and  the  monks,  the  eastern  part  of  the  church  was  sepa- 
rated for  the  use  of  the  latter,  since  whose  time  it  has  been  neglected. 
The  church,  a  fine  spacious  building  of  Perpendicular  architecture,  was 
built  by  Henry  VII.  in  gratitude  for  the  aid  of  the  inhabitants  at  Bos- 
worth  Field.  Collinson  says  that  "  most  of  the  churches  in  this  county 
exhibit  fine  specimens  of  the  Florid  Gothic,  so  prevalent  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII. ;  which  makes  it  probable  that  they  were  rebuilt  by  order 
of  that  Prince,  in  gratitude  for  their  attachment  to  his  house." 

"Hobby-horsing"  prevails  in  this  county.  On  the  ist  of  May,  a 
number  of  persons,  carrying  grotesque  figures  of  men  and  horses,  suflS- 
ciently  large  to  hide  them,  perambulate  the  town,  and  then  go  to 
Dunster  Castle,  where  they  are  hospitably  regaled  and  receive  a  present 
in  money. 

Taunton  Castle. 

Taunton,  an  ancient  town  in  the  south-western  part  of  Somersetshire, 
is  inferred  to  have  been  of  Roman  origin,  from  coins  and  other  antiqui- 
ties found  on  the  site.  It  was  certainly  a  place  of  considerable  impor- 
tance in  the  Anglo-Saxon  period ;  and  in  the  eighth  century  a  Castle 
was  built  here  by  Ina,  King  of  the  "West  Saxons,  in  which  he  held  his 
first  great  council.  The  building  was  destroyed  by  his  Queen  in  expel- 
ling one  of  the  Kings  of  the  South  Saxons.  Another  Castle  was  built 
by  William  Giffard,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  temp.  Henry  I. ;  an  em- 
battled gateway,  erected  by  Bishop  Langton,  about  1487,  remains.  In 
1417  Thomas  Chaucer,  a  distinguished  statesman,  and  son  of  the  poet, 
was  Constable  of  the  Castle.  Perkin  Warbeck  held  possession  of  the 
Castle  and  town  for  a  short  time;  but  hearing  that  King  Henry  VII. 
was  approaching,  he  quitted  his  partisans  near  Taunton,  and  took  sanc- 
tuary at  Beaulieu ;  the  monastery  was  surrounded ;  Warbeck  surrendered 
on  a  promise  of  life  ;  he  was  brought  to  Henry  at  Taunton,  and  then 
sent  prisoner  to  London :  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  treated  as  an 
impostor;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  manifestly  used  as  a  prisoner  of 
rank ;  but  he  ^'as  at  length  tried  and  executed  for  high  treason,  al- 
though no  record  of  the  trial  is  known  to  exist. 

In  the  Civil  Wars,  Taunton  sustained  a  long  siege  under  Colonel 
(afterwards  Admiral)  Blake,  against  10,000  Royalist  troops,  until  re* 

N  N  2 


548  TJie  Famous  A  bbcy  of  Glastonbury. 

lieved  by  Fairfax.  Within  the  Castle  gate  is  the  Free  Grammar  Sckx)l, 
large  and  ancient ;  and  the  county  courts  and  offices  are  within  an 
in-egular  (quadrangle,  consisting  of  the  remains  of  the  Castle. 


The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury. 

"Ye  sacred  piles  and  venerable  towers, 

That  once  adom'd  fair  Avalonia's  Isle, 
Where  moral  virtues  and  religious  powers 

Inspir'd  the  Fathers  e'en  on  death  to  smile. 
But  though  destroyed  by  devastation's  hand, 

By  fury  guided,  or  outrageous  zeal  ; 
Your  ruins  now,  majestically  grand, 

Bid  solemn  contemplation  there  to  dwell." 

The  remains  of  the  once  magnificent  Abbey  of  Glastonbm-y  are  in- 
vested with  a  high  degree  of  interest  from  various  circumstances.  As 
ruins  they  are  very  picturesque;  and  it  should  be  remembered  that 
these  fragments  are  the  last  reminiscences  of  an  Abbey,  which,  accord- 
ing to  tradition,  was  the  earliest  of  its  kind  in  England, — which  in 
different  ages  of  the  Church  afforded  to  some  of  the  most  learned  and 
pious  of  the  day  a  retreat  and  asylum  while  living,  and  a  resting-place 
for  their  mortal  remains  when  they  were  no  mere, — and  which  enjoying, 
with  the  exception  of  Westminster  Abbey,  tfie  most  patronage  and 
revenue  of  any  similar  establishments  in  Europe,  for  centuries  held  a 
distinguished  place  in  the  ecclesiastical  annals  of  Britain.  But  the 
paramount  attraction  of  the  place  is  the  probability  that  on  this  very 
spot  stood  the  first  Christian  church  erected  in  this  country. 

The  glory  of  first  evangelising  England  has  been  confidently 
ascribed  to  various  individuals,  and  amongst  others  to  Joseph  ol 
Arimathsea,  of  whom  the  following  legends  are  narrated.  When  St. 
Philip  the  Apostle,  after  the  death  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  was  in  Gaul, 
promulgating  the  doctrine  of  the  Cln'istian  Religion,  he  was  intormedi 
of  certain  refugees,  that  all  those  horrid  superstitions  which  he  has 
observed  in  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  and  which  he  found  so 
much  labour  and  difficulty  in  overcoming,  originated  from  a  little 
island,  at  no  great  distance  from  the  Continent,  named  Britain.  Thither 
he  immediately  resolved  to  extend  the  influence  of  his  precepts,  and  in 
the  place  of  barbarous  and  bloody  rites/  long  exercised  by  bigoted  and 
besotted  Druids,  to  introduce  tiic  meek  and  gentle  system  of  Chris- 
tianity. Accordingly  he  dispatched  twelve  of  his  companions  and 
followers,  and  appointed  Joseph  of  Arimathxa,  who  had  not  long  before 


The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury.  549 

taken  his  Saviour  from  the  Cross,  to  superintend  the  sacred  embassy. 
Britain  was  wild  and  uncultivated,  its  inhabitants  were  rude  and  inimical 
to  strangers;  yet  withal  its  King  Arviragus could  foster  a  few  itinerants, 
whom  he  knew  not  how  to  hate,  nor  wished  to  love.  In  consideration 
of  their  hard  and  laborious  journey,  he  disposed  their  habitation  in  a 
small  island,  then  waste  and  untilled,  and  surrounded  by  bogs  and 
morasses;  assigning  to  each  of  the  twelve  a  certain  portion  of  land 
called  a  bide,  sufficient  for  one  family  to  live  upon,  and  comprising 
in  all  a  territory  denominated  to  this  day,  "The  Twelve  Hides  of 
Glaston." 

This  spot  was  at  that  early  period  called  by  the  natives  Yniswytryn,  or 
the  Glassy  Island,  either  because  its  surface  represented  iglasten,  or  blue- 
green  colour ;  or  because  it  abounded  with  the  herb  called ^/«j/,  or  woad, 
with  which  they  were  used  to  colour  their  bodies.  Here,  according  to 
the  monastic  annals,  St.  Joseph  erected  to  the  honour  of  the  blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  of  wattles  and  wreathed  twigs,  the  first  Christian  oratory 
in  England.  In  after-times  the  site  received  the  fanciful  name  of 
Avalon,  or  the  Isle  of  Apples,  or  the  land  where  Avallon,  a  British 
chief,  first  pitched  his  residence.  The  Saxons  finally  called  it  Glaston- 
bury. 

These  statements  are,  however,  regarded  as  the  fabrication  of  after- 
times.  What  connexion  there  could  possibly  have  been  between 
Joseph  of  ArimathtCa  and  our  island,  and  what  could  ha\'e  given  rise  to 
the  idea  of  his  having  been  the  first  to  preach  the  Gospel  amongst  us, 
it  is  diflicult  to  conjecture.  Nor,  indeed,  would  it  have  been  worthy  of 
serious  notice,  if  it  had  not  been  more  than  once  made  use  of  as  a  fact 
of  some  weight  in  the  history  of  the  English  church.  But  it  is  curious 
that  the  English  bishops,  at  the  Council  of  Basil,  in  the  year  1434, 
claimetl  precedence  before  those  of  Castile  in  Spain,  on  the  ground  of 
*'  Britaines  conversion  by  Joseph  of  Arimathjea."  And  what  is  infinitely 
more  extraordinary,  even  our  Protestant  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  Arch- 
bishop Parker,  venturea  to  claim  Joseph  as  the  first  preacher  of  Chris- 
tianity in  England.  The  tradition  that  the  first  Christian  church  was 
erected  at  Glastonbury  seems  the  more  deserving  of  credit,  because  it 
was  not  contradicted  in  those  ages  when  other  churches  would  have 
found  it  profitable  to  advance  a  similar  pretension,  and  especially  to 
assume  such  titles  ds  those  conferred  on  Glastonbury — "  the  first  ground 
of  God,"  "  the  first  ground  of  the  saints  in  England,"  and  "  the  rise 
and  foundation  of  all  religion  in  England."  It  may  also  be  observed, 
by  the  way,  that  the  description  here  given  of  the  character  of  the 
sacred  edifice,  t)eing  formed  of  wattles  and  wreathed  twigs,  agreea 


55 o  The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury. 

well  with  the  general  nature  of  the  buildings  in  this  country  at  that 
rude  period. 

Next,  a  more  substantial  structure  was  erected  in  the  place  of  this 
humble  and  primitive  chapel,  then  fallen  into  decay.  This  is  described 
as  having  taken  place  under  the  auspices  of  two  Christian  missionaries, 
whom  Eleutherius,  the  twelfth  Bishop  of  Rome,  is  represented  as  having 
sent  over  to  this  country,  at  the  request  of  King  Lucius,  to  reillumine 
the  expiring  embers  of  Christianity  in  the  land.  Lucius  seems  to  have 
reigned,  if,  indeed,  there  were  such  a  British  King,  about  the  year  i8o. 
These  missionaries  are  said  to  have  built  another  oratory  on  the  summit 
of  the  hill  now  called  the  Tor,  and  dedicated  it  to  St.  Michael  the 
Archangel. 

In  the  year  439,  we  are  told  that  St.  Patrick,  the  patron  sdnt  of 
Ireland,  visited  the  holy  spot,  and  that  he  repaired  the  two  chapels 
before  erected.  It  is  added  also,  that  he  disciplined  the  body  of  the 
clergy  into  something  of  a  monastic  society,  and  became  himself  the 
first  Abbot.  About  the  year  530,  St.  David,  Archbishop  of  Menevia, 
accompanied  by  seven  of  his  suffragan  bishops,  took  a  journey  to 
Avalon,  and  expended  large  sums  of  money  in  adding  to  the  buildings 
of  the  church.  St.  David  was  uncle  of  the  renowned  King  Arthur, 
who  in  his  time  (a.d.  543)  having  been  mortally  wounded  in  the  re- 
bellion of  his  cousin  Murdred,  at  the  battle  of  Camlan,  was  carried  to 
this  Abbey,  that  he  might  prepare  himself  for  his  departure  out  of  this 
life  in  the  society  of  the  Religious,  and  be  interred  amongst  such  a 
number  of  saints  as  had  reposed  there  from  the  beginoing  of 
Christianity ;  accordingly,  on  his  death,  his  body  here  found  a  peaceful 
grave.* 


•  The  following  account  of  the  grave  of  Arthur,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  XL, 
640  years  after  he  was  buried,  is  taken  from  Camden's  Britannia,  as  he  gives 
it  on  the  authority  of  Giraldus  Cambrcnsis,  "an  eye-witnt-ss."  "When 
Henry  H.,  King  of  England,  had  learned  from  the  songs  of  the  British  bards, 
that  Arthur,  the  most  noble  heroe  of  the  Britains,  whose  courage  had  so  often 
shatter'd  the  Saxons,  was  buried  at  Glassenbury  between  two  pyramids,  he 
order'd  search  to  be  made  for  the  body  ;  and  they  had  scarce  dig.ic'd  seven  foot 
deep,  but  they  light  upon  a  cross'd  stone  (cippus),  or  a  stone  in  tiie  back  part 
whereof  was  fastened  a  rude  leaden  cross,  something  broad.  This  being  pulled 
out,  appeared  to  have  an  inscription  upon  it,  and  under  it,  almost  nine  foot 
deep,  they  found  a  coffm  made  of  hoUow'd  oak,  wherein  were  deposited  the 
bones  of  the  famous  Arthur.  The  letters  have  a  sort  of  barbarous  and  Gothic 
appearance,  and  arc  a  plain  evidence  of  the  barbarity  of  the  age,  which  was  so 
involved  in  a  fatal  sort  of  mist,  that  no  one  was  found  to  celebrate  the  name  of 
King  Arthur.  That  strong  bulwark  of  the  Britisii  government  may  justly 
reckon  this  amongst  his  greatest  misfortunes,  that  the  age  did  not  afford  a 
panegyric  fiqual  to  his  virtues." 


The  Famous  A  hbcy  of  Glastonbury,  551 

In  the  year  605,  this  establishment  was  formed  into  a  siill  more 
regular  society,  by  the  famous  St.  Augustine,  who  was  sent  into 
England  by  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  to  convert  the  heathen  Anglo- 
Saxons  of  Britain.  Twenty-five  years  after  this,  St.  Paulinus,  Bishop 
of  Rochester,  resided  in  the  monastery ;  and  was  a  great  benefactor  to 
the  edifice,  which  he  considerably  enlarged.  He  also  built  the  old 
church  with  timber,  and  we  are  told,  covered  it  without,  from  the  top 
to  the  bottom,  with  lead. 

Cebric,  Ceolwulph,  Kenwalch,  Kentwine,  Cedwalla,  and  other 
Kings,  in  their  day  enriched  the  establishment  with  valuable  lands  and 
possessions.  But  when  King  Ina  ascended  the  throne  of  the  West 
Saxons,  he  excelled  all  his  predecessors  in  his  munificence.  He,  in  the 
year  708,  pulled  down  the  old  ruinous  buildings  of  the  monastery,  re- 
built it  in  the  most  sumptuous  and  magnificent  manner,  and  dedicated 
it  to  the  honour  of  Christ  and  of  the  Apostles  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul,  "  adorning  the  edifice  with  a  costly  chapel,  garnished  and  plated 
over  with  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  forty  pounds'  weight  of 
silver,  and  sixty-four  pounds'  weight  of  gold,"  besides  many  rich  and 
valuable  ornaments.  He  also  bestowed  on  the  Abbey  a  royal  charter, 
dated  725,  exempting  it  from  all  regal  exactions  and  services,  such  a?, 
military  expeditions,  and  the  building  of  bridges  and  citadels.  Large 
grants  of  land  accompanied  these  extraordinary  privileges.  The 
Bishop  of  Wells  was  to  go  once  a  year  with  his  clergy  to  the  mother 
church  at  Glastonbury,  and  sing  the  Litany  there.  King  Ina,  more- 
over, strictly  forbids  his  subjects  of  every  degree  from  entering  the 
precincts  of  the  Abbey  for  the  purpose  of  "  pleading,  searching,  plun- 
dering, commanding,  or  interdicting;"  and  it  was  further  ordered  that 
"whatever  causes  shall  arise  concerning  murder,  sacrilege,  witchcraft, 
robbery,  &c. ;  concerning  ecclesiastical  discipline,  the  ordination  of 
clerks,  or  synodal  conventions;  let  them  without  prejudice  to  any 
man  be  defined  by  the  judgment  of  the  Abbot  and  Monks;  and  who- 
ever shall  presume  to  violate  this  grant,  let  him  know  that,  being  eter- 
nally damned,  he  will  punish  in  the  infinite  torment  of  devouring 
flames." 

Succeeding  monarchs  withheld  not  their  benefactions,  but  weie 
zealous  in  ratifying,  confirming,  and  adding  to,  the  grants  before 
made.  In  short,  "  Kings  and  Queens,  not  only  of  the  West  Saxons,  but 
of  other  kingdoms  of  the  Heptarchy,  several  archbishops  and  bishops, 
many  dukes,  and  the  nobility  of  both  sexes,  thought  themselves  happy 
in  increasing  the  revenues  of  this  venerable  house,  to  obtain  them  a 
place  of  sepulture  therein." 


55-  The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury. 

During  the  incursions  of  the  Danes,  the  Abbey  of  Glastonbury  did 
not  escape  the  violence  of  these  rapacious  plunderers,  but  was  deprived 
by  them  of  much  of  its  splendour,  and  was  soon  doomed  to  exhibit  a 
most  melancholy  picture  of  ruin  and  distress.  Happily,  they  were 
checked  by  the  bravery  of  King  Alfied ;  and  on  the  elevation  of 
Edmund  to  the  throne,  he  restored  this  religious  house  to  its  ancient 
dignity.  He  appointed  over  it  an  Abbot,  and  pennitted  him  to  make 
free  use  of  the  royal  treasury  to  rebuild  the  Abbey. 

At  the  period  of  the  Norman  Conquest,  however,  the  Abbey  suffered 
a  reverse  of  fortune :  its  Abbot,  Egelnoth,  one  of  the  principal  men  of 
the  nation,  was  for  this  reason  deposed  from  his  office,  and  caiTied 
over  into  Normandy  by  King  William,  who  was  jealous  of  his  newly 
acquired  subjects.  The  Abbey  was  deprived  by  the  Conqueror 
of  a  very  considerable  portion  of  its  endowments ;  but  even  after  this 
spoliation  its  possessions  were  magnificent. 

Soon  after  the  Conquest,  about  the  year  iioi,  an  entirely  new  fabric 
was  raised  by  Abbot  Herlewin,  who  spent  480/.  solely  on  the  founda- 
tion. Henry  de  Blois,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Winchester,  erected  a 
belfry,  chapter-house,  and  cloister.  But,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  H., 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  Abbey  being  consumed  by  fire,  it  was  rebuilt 
with  great  expedition ;  and  this  appears  to  be  the  very  building  the 
remains  of  which  now  exist. 

We  gather  from  Leland  that  the  church  contained  the  monuments  of 
King  Arthur  and  Gumevera,  his  Queen  ;  King  Edmund  the  Elder, 
Edward  de  la  Zouch,  and  others.  It  was  the  burial-place  of  several 
other  Kings  and  great  personages;  as  King  Edgar,  Eduumd  Iroiside, 
Coel  King  of  Great  Britain,  the  father  of  Helen,  mother  to  Constantine 
the  Great ;  also  of  saints  and  holy  men  not  a  few,  as  St.  Joseph  of 
Arimathcea  ;  St.  Patrick,  with  two  of  his  disciples  ;  St.  Idractus,  with 
his  seven  companions,  martyrs ;  St.  David,  St.  Dunstan,  Gildas  the 
British  historian,  and  several  of  the  early  Bishops. 

Glastonbury  surpassed  in  revenues  all  the  Abbeys  in  England,  except 
Westminster,  and  exceeded  in  size  all  the  catiiedrals  except  Old  Saint 
Paul's.  Richard  Whytyng  was  the  last  Abbot  of  Glastonbury.  Upon 
the  dissolution  of  the  monastic  establishments  in  1540,  this  venerable 
person,  refusing  to  surrender  the  Monastery,  was  condemned  for  high 
treason  at  Wells,  drawn  from  that  city  to  Glastonbury  on  a  hurdle, 
and,  despite  his  white  hairs,  hanged,  with  two  of  his  monks,  on  the 
Tor  Hill.  His  head  was  set  upon  the  Abbey-gate,  and  the  four 
quarters  of  his  body  sent  to  Wells,  Jiath,  Ilchcsler,  and  liridgew  iter. 
His  apailmcnt  was  a  kind  of  well-disciplined  court,  where  the  sons  of 


The  Famous  A  bbey  of  Glastonbury.  '  55  3 

noblemen  and  gentlemen  were  educated.  In  this  manner  he  bred  up 
nearly  300  pupils,  besides  others  of  a  lower  rank.  His  table,  at- 
tendants, and  officers  were  an  honour  to  the  nation.  He  is  said  to 
have  entertained  500  persons  of  consideration  at  one  time;  and  on 
Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  weekly,  all  the  poor  of  the  country  around 
were  relieved  by  his  peculiar  charity. 

From  this  date  the  noble  monastery  fell  to  decay.  The  foundation 
plot  upon  which  this  vast  fabric  and  its  immense  range  of  offices  were 
erected,  included  a  space  of  not  less  than  sixty  acres,  and  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  lofty  stone  wall.  Of  the  great  church  and  its  five 
chapels  there  yet  remain  standing  some  walls,  windows,  pillars,  and 
other  fragments ;  besides  the  three  large  crypts,  in  which  lay  entombed 
the  remains  of  many  of  the  illustrious  personages.  Of  the  work- 
manship, sufficient  remains  in  the  arches  of  the  windows  to  show  that 
the  edifice  was  in  the  best  style  of  the  later  Norman,  A  little  west- 
ward from  the  church  stands  the  Chapel  of  St.  Joseph  of  Arimathasa, 
which  has  a  large  and  handsome  crypt,  and  is  pretty  entire ;  the  arches 
of  the  windows  are  semicircular,  and  adorned  with  the  lozenge,  zig- 
zag, and  embattled  mouldings  ;  underneath  are  interlaced  semicircular 
arches,  springing  from  slender  shafts,  and  ornamented  with  zigzag 
mouldings,  and  roses,  crescents,  and  stars  in  the  spandrils ;  the  doors, 
north  and  south,  elaborately  enriched.  Of  the  monastery  there  is  left 
a  fiiir  edifice  of  stone,  thought  to  be  the  Abbot's  house.  At  some 
distance,  amidst  a  heap  of  ruins,  the  Abbot's  kitchen  stands  unde- 
molished.  Dr.  Stukeley  describes  it  as  formed  from  an  octagon,  in- 
cluded in  a  square ;  four  fireplaces  fill  the  four  angles,  having  chimneys 
over  them  in  the  flat  part  of  the  roof.  Between  these  rises  the  arched 
octagonal  pyramid,  crowned  with  a  double  lantern,  for  the  egress  of 
the  smoke.  There  are  eight  carved  ribs  within,  which  support  the 
vaults ;  and  eight  funnels  for  letting  out  the  steam  through  windows, 
within  which,  in  a  smaller  pyramid,  hung  the  bell  to  call  the  poor 
people  to  the  adjacent  almonry. 

The  origin  of  the  kitchen,  according  to  tradition,  was  this :  King 
Henry  VIII.,  having  a  dispute  with  one  of  the  Abbots,  threatened  to 
burn  his  kitchen ;  when  the  latter  said,  he  would  build  such  an  one 
that  all  the  wood  in  the  royal  forests  should  not  be  sufficient  to  effect 
the  purpose  ;  indeed,  he  built  a  strong  one.  This  story  is  more  likely 
to  be  true  of  some  other  king  ;  for,  though  this  kitchen  might  be  built 
since  the  Abbey,  yet  it  appears  of  earlier  date  than  the  reign  of 
Henry  VIII. 

Not  far  from  hence  stood  the  refectory,  dormitory,  and  the  gr^at  halU 


5  54  The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury. 

North-eastward  of  Glastonbury,  on  a  very  high  hill  (that  on  which 
Abbot  Whytyng  suffered),  stands  the  Tor  or  Tower  of  St.  Michael, 
probably  erected  in  the  fourteenth  century,  on  the  spot  previously  oc- 
cupied by  a  more  ancient  building.  It  serves  as  a  landmark  to  sailors 
in  the  Bristol  Channel,  and  is  seen  in  very  clear  weather  to  a  very  great 
distance  in  all  directions. 

On  the  south-west  side  of  Glastonbury  may  be  seen  Weary-all  Hill, 
which  is  supposed  to  have  taken  its  name  from  a  belief  instilled  into 
the  minds  of  the  ignorant  in  former  days,  that  here  St.  Joseph  and  his 
companions  sat  down,  all  iveary  with  their  journey.  From  the  stick 
also  which  stuck  in  the  ground  on  that  occasion,  though  then  only  a 
dry  hawthorn  staff,  they  say  sprang  the  famous  Glastonbury  Thorn, 
which  blossoms  every  year  at  Christmas.  The  tree,  which  was  con- 
sidered the  original  stock,  had  in  the  time  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  two 
trunks  or  bodies,  when  a  Puritan  exterminated  one  of  them.  The 
other,  which  was  the  size  of  a  common  man,  was  still  an  object  of 
wonder  and  attraction  ;  and  the  blossoms  were  esteemed  such  curiosities 
by  the  people  of  all  nations,  that  the  Bristol  merchants  made  a  traffic 
of  them,  in  exporting  them  to  foreign  parts.  In  the  Great  Rebellion, 
during  the  time  of  Charles  I.,  the  remaining  trunk  of  this  tree  was 
also  cut  down,  but  others  derived  from  it  then  existed.  Absurd  as  is 
the  account  of  the  origin  of  this  Thorn,  it  is  a  fact  that  the  shrub  here 
flowers  two  or  three  months  before  the  ordinary  time,  and  sometimes 
as  early  as  Christmas-day,  o.s.,  whence  it  is  conjectured  to  be  at  least 
a  'variety  of  the  species  which  may  have  been  originally  introduced  by 
some  pilgrim  from  the  East.  A  Correspondent  of  the  Gardener  s  Maga- 
zine writes  from  Glastonbury,  "  The  Popish  legend  about  the  staff  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathaea  I  may  be  permitted  to  pass  over  in  silence,  and, 
therefore,  come  at  once  to  the  Thorn-tree  now  standing  within  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  ancient  Abbey  of  Glastonbury ;  for  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  from  this  tree  and  its  forefathers  (the  present  one  being  of  great 
age)  all  others  had  been  propagated  by  budding  or  grafting.  The  most 
remarkable  peculiarity  of  this  tree,  and  in  those  descended  from  tlie 
same  stock,  is  the  time  of  flowering:  it  is  now  (December  31,  1832)  in 
blossom ;  it  will  again  blossom  in  the  month  of  May,  and  from  these 
latter  flowers  fruit  will  be  produced." 

Aubrey,  the  Wiltshire  antiquary,  gives  the  following  record  of  the 
flowering  of  the  Glastonbury  Thorn  at  Christmas:  "Mr.  Anthony 
Hinton,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  did  inoculate,  not 
long  Ix'fure  the  late  Civill  Warres  (ten  ycarcs  or  more),  a  bud  of  Glas- 
tonbury Thome,  on  a  tliornc  at  his  farmhouse,  at  Wilton,  which  bios- 


The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury.  555 

soms  at  Christmas  as  the  other  did.  My  mother  has  had  branches  of 
them  for  a  flower-pott  several  Christmasses,  which  I  have  seen.  Elias 
Ashmole,  Esq.,  in  his  notes  upon  Iheatrum  Chym'icum,  saies  that  in 
the  churchyard  of  Glastonbury  grew  a  wallnutt  tree  that  did  putt  out 
young  leaves  at  Christmas,  as  doth  the  King's  Oake  in  the  New  Forest. 
In  Parham  Park,  in  Suffolk  (Mr.  Boutele's)  is  a  pretty  ancient  tiiome 
that  blossomes  like  that  at  Glastonbury ;  the  people  flock  hither  to  see 
it  on  Christmas-day.  But  in  the  rode  that  leades  from  Worcester  to 
Droitwiche  is  a  blackthome  hedge  at  Clayes,  half  a  mile  long  or  more, 
that  blossoms  about  Christmas-day  for  a  week  or  more  together.  The 
ground  is  called  Longland.  Dr.  Ezerel  Tong  sayd  that  about  Rumly- 
marsh,  in  Kent  [Romney-marsh  ?]  are  thomes  naturally  like  that  at 
Glastonbury.  The  soldiers  did  cutt  downe  that  near  Glastonbury; 
the  stump  remaines." 

There  is  yet  another  marvel  to  be  noied  of  this  interesting  locality. 
At  the  foot  of  the  lofty  Tor,  on  the  north  side,  rises  the  Blood  or 
Chalice  Well ;  and  somewhat  higher  on  the  Hill,  south-westward,  rises 
another  spring,  both  springs  possessing  mineral  properties, — "  strongly 
impregnated  with  iron  and  fixed  air."  Holinshed  says  that,  "  King 
Arthur  being  wounded  in  battle,  was  brought  to  Glastonbury  to  be 
healed  of  his  wounds  by  the  healing  waters  of  Glastonbury."  In  a 
small  tract,  printed  in  1805,  we  find  several  testimonials  of  cures  by 
drinking  these  waters:  they  date  from  the  year  1751:  asthma  and 
dropsy,  scrofula  and  leprosy,  are  the  diseases  from  which  the  patient! 
were  relieved  or  cured. 

A  few  years  since  there  was  brought  from  Glastonbury  a  portion  of 
an  Easter  Sepulchre,  which,  though  barely  half  the  base,  is  of  consi- 
derable interest,  not  merely  as  a  relic  of  the  glorious  old  Abbey,  but 
as  a  faithful  delineation  of  the  military  habits  of  the  early  part  of  the 
fifteenth  century ;  for  to  this  period  the  sculpture  must  undoubtedly  be 
referred.  One  of  the  two  figures  here  remaining  is  seated  on  a  bank, 
the  other  sleeps  in  a  reclining  posture  on  the  ground,  and  supports  hia 
head  on  his  right  hand.  Both  wear  high-pointed  basinets,  with  large 
camails  covering  the  chest  and  shoulders  ;  the  nether  limbs  are  incased 
in  cuissarts,  and  greaves  or  jambs,  with  long-toed  sollerets,  the  genouil- 
leres,  or  knee-plates,  having  very  strongly-marked  rims.  Over  the  body- 
armour  is  belted  a  short  plaited  jupon,  with  the  wide  hanging  sleeve  so 
characteristic  of  the  knightly  costume  of  the  era  of  our  fifth  Henry. 
The  second  soldier  holds  a  spear  and  shield  of  oval  form,  once  probably 
blazoned  with  some  heraldic  insignia.  By  the  side  of  the  sleeping 
figure  is  laid  an  axe,  a  novelty  in  such  a  situation.     On  the  left  arn^ 


556  The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury. 

and  partly  on  the  side  of  the  reclining  guard,  is  placed  a  right  naked 
foot,  and  if  it  be  that  of  the  resuscitated  Saviour,  the  effigy  must  have 
differed  materially  from  others,  and  may  perhaps  have  appeared  as  if 
descending  from  the  ledge  of  the  tomb.  Slight  traces  of  colour  are 
seen  on  the  imagery,  and  the  ground  is  painted  green,  and  powdered 
with  little  white  flowers  vi^ith  red  eyes,  calling  to  mind  one  of  the  Good 
Friday  ceremonies  described  by  Naogeorgus : 

"  With  tapers  all  the  people  come,  and  at  the  barriers  stay, 
There  downe  upon  their  knees  they  fall,  and  night  and  day  they  pray, 
And  violets  and  every  kin de  ofjloweres  about  the  grave 
They  straw,  and  bring  in  all  their  giftes  and  presents  that  they  have."* 

In  King's  Weston  Church  is  a  chair  which  formerly  belonged  to 
Glastonbury  Abbey.  It  is  of  oak,  with  the  back  divided  into  two 
compartments :  on  one  side  is  a  shield  bearing  a  crozier,  and  the  initials 
R.  W.  [Richard  W  hiting,  the  last  Abbot] ,  and  on  the  other  a  coat  of 
arms.  Horace  Walpole  possessed  one  at  Strawbeiry  Hill,  which  had 
the  reputation  of  being  a  genuine  relic  of  Glastonbury. 

Peter  Lightfoot,  a  monk  of  Glastonbury,  constructed  the  very  curious 
clock  of  Wells  Cathedral :  it  has  an  astronomical  dial,  suraiounted  by 
small  figures  on  horseback,  representing  knights  at  tilts  and  tourna- 
ments, who,  by  a  movement  of  the  machinery,  are  ludicrously  hurried 
round  in  rapid  circumvolutions. 

The  following  Legend  of  Glastonbury  is  written  in  the  Somerset  dia- 
lect of  the  present  time :  it  is  not  made  up  from  books,  but  from  the 
oral  traditions  once  very  prevalent,  and  possibly  still  so,  in  and  near 
Glastonbury : 

A  LEGEND  OF  GLASTONBURY. 

"  Who  hath  not  hir'd  of  Avalon? 

'Twas  talk'd  of  mucli  and  long  agon  :— 

The  wonders  of  the  Holy  thorn. 

The  which,  zoon  4ter  Clirist  was  born. 

Here  a  planted  war  by  Arimathii, 

Thie  Joseph  that  com'd  over  sea, 

And  planted  Christianity. 

Thi  zA  that  whun  a  landed  vust, 

(Zich  plazen  war  in  God's  own  trust) 

A  stuck  his  staff  into  tlie  groun. 

And  over  his  shoulder  lookin  roun, 

Whativer  mid  his  lot  bevdll, 

He  cried  aloud  now,  '  weary  all !' 

The  staff  lict  budded  and  het  grew, 

And  at  Christmas  bloom'd  the  whol  di\  dF30> 

And  still  het  blooms  at  Christmas  bright, 

But  best  thd  z^  at  dork  midnight. 


•  Mr.  Sycr  Cumlnjf,  F.S.A. ;  Proc.  Drithh  ArckccohgUal  Associatum* 


The  Famous  Abbey  of  Glastonbury.  557 

A  pruf  o'  this,  if  pruf  you  will, 
Is  voun  in  the  name  o'  Weary-all  Hill! 
Let  tell  Pumparles  or  lazy  Brite 
That  what  is  told  is  vor  sartain  true  !" 

This  story  of  the  Holy  Thorn  was  a  long  time  credited  by  the  vulgar, 
and  even  yet  survives  among  the  credulous.  That  there  is  a  species 
of  the  white  thorn  which  blossoms  about  Christmas,  is  now  so  well 
known  to  naturalists  as  to  excite  very  little,  if  any,  surprise.  The 
stories  of  Joseph  of  Arimathaea,  of  his  staff,  and  his  landing  at  Weary- 
all  Hill,  are  equally  absurd.  There  is,  however,  as  already  stated,  a 
hill  between  Street  and  Glastonbury,  called  Weary-all.  Pumparles  is 
supposed  to  be  a  corruption  of  Pons  perilous,  that  is,  dangerous  bridge, 
a  bridge  over  the  river  Brue,  near  Weary-all  Hill. 

It  may  be  added  in  defence  of  Glastonbury  being  called  the  Island 
of  A-valon,  with  its  Tor  Hill,  &c.,  that  before  the  moors  were  drained 
and  "  tined  in"  (that  is,  divided  into  separate  allotments)  to  the  extent 
or  completeness  they  now  are,  much  of  the  low  land  about  Glastonbury 
was,  to  a  considerable  extent,  covered  with  water  in  the  winter  season, 
so  as  very  probably  to  constitute  it  an  island ;  indeed,  within  memory, 
many  square  miles  of  low  land  between  Glastonbury  and  the  sea  were 
covered  during  the  winter,  for  a  time  more  or  less  long,  with  water. 

In  the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth  century,  (writers  disagree  as  to  the 
year,)  in  digging  a  grave  for  an  obscure  monk  in  the  Abbey  of  Glaston- 
bury, the  diggers  came  upon  that  of  a  stalwart  man,  in  whose  grave 
a  yellow-haired  woman  lay  sleeping  her  last  sleep.  Some  words  on 
the  coffin  of  the  male  showed  that  it  contained  all  that  could  die  of  King 
Arthur.  Ten  marks  of  wounds  on  his  body  were  as  good  warrant  of 
identity  as  the  words.  The  mute  companion  was  taken  to  be  Gui- 
nevera.  Malmesbury,  before  the  remains  were  discovered,  speaks  of 
the  King's  burial  at  Glastonbury,  and  later  writers  allude  to  the  dis- 
covery as  a  well-known  fact.  The  find  is  suspected  by  some  to  have 
been  a  pious  fraud  for  the  greater  glory  of  the  monastery.  Others  think 
that  the  monks  could  not  have  forged  a  story  that  could  be  easily  put 
to  the  proof  at  the  very  time. 


558 

Bridgewater  Castle  and  the  Battle  of  Sedgemoor. 

Bridgewater  Castle,  at  one  time  one  of  the  strongest  and  most 
extensive  in  the  kingdom,  was  built  by  William  de  Briwere  in  1202. 
On  the  decease  of  this  knight  his  estates  were  divided,  and  the 
castle,  manor,  and  borough  of  Bridgewater,  with  the  manors  of  Hay- 
grove  and  Odcombe,  fell  to  the  eldest  of  his  sisters,  Grsecia,  who 
was  married  to  William  de  Braose,  lord  of  the  manors  of  Breck- 
nock, Radnor,  and  Abergavenny,  and  a  great  baron  of  his  time. 
William,  the  son  of  this  baron,  was  massacred  by  Llewellyn,  Prince 
of  Wales,  leaving  issue  four  daughters,  the  eldest  of  whom,  Maud, 
wife  of  Roger  Mortimer,  inherited  the  castle  and  a  third  part  of  the 
manor  of  Bridgewater  for  her  share,  and  bequeathed  the  same  to 
William  Mortimer  her  third  son.  He  dying  without  issue,  left  the 
estate  to  his  elder  brother  Edmund,  Lord  Mortimer,  from  whom  it 
passed  by  inheritance  to  Roger,  Earl  of  March,  and  through  him  to 
his  successive  descendants,  until  at  last  it  passed  by  an  heir  female 
of  the  last  Earl  of  March  to  Richard,  Duke  of  York,  and  thus  to  the 
Crown.  Charles  L,  in  the  second  year  of  his  reign,  granted  the  castle 
and  manor,  with  all  the  appurtenances  attached,  to  Sir  William  Whit- 
more,  Knight,  and  George  Whitmore,  Esq.,  and  to  their  heirs.  The 
Whitmores  soon  after  sold  the  manor,  castle,  &c.,  of  Bridgewater,  to 
Henry  Harvey,  whose  eldest  son,  Henry,  inherited,  but  dying  with- 
out issue  bequeathed  it  to  John  Harvey,  his  uncle.  In  1643,  two 
years  before  the  siege  of  Bridgewater  by  the  parliamentary  forces 
under  Fairfax,  the  castle  was  held  in  lease  of  the  Harveys  by 
Edmund  Wyndham,  the  King's  governor. 

At  the  time  of  the  siege  Bridgewater  was  a  very  large  and  noble 
structure,  and  the  government  of  it  in  the  King's  name,  was  vested 
only  in  persons  of  the  highest  eminence  and  distinction.  Its  walls, 
which  in  most  parts  were  fifteen  feet  thick,  were  mounted  by  forty 
guns,  and  all  its  fortifications  were  regular  and  strong.  The  moat 
was  thirty  feet  wide  and  of  great  depth,  and  the  castle,  being 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Parret,  at  the  distance  of  only  six 
2  miles  from  the  sea,  this  moat  was  filled  with  water  at  every  tide. 
But  neither  the  natural  strength  of  its  situation,  the  massive  cha- 
racter of  its  fortifications,  the  completeness  of  its  muniments,  not 
the  gallantry  with  which  it  was  defended  by  Col.  Edmund  Wynd- 
ham, who  was  then  governor,  could  maintain  it  unscathed  against 
the  furious  assault  of  Fairfax  and  his  Ironsides.  The  town  and 
castle  were  defended  for   a  considerable  lime  with  the  utmost 


Bridgewater  Castle  and  ilie  Battle  of  Sedgemoor.     5  59 

bravery  ;  but  great  part  of  the  former  having  been  fired  by  grenades 
and  hot  balls  shot  by  the  besiegers  and  much  blood  having  been 
shed  among  the  inhabitants,  Colonel  Wyndham  deemed  it  judicious 
to  surrender  to  Fairfax,  July  22nd,  1645.  In  the  town  were  taken 
valuable  stores  of  ammunition,  arms,  cannon,  jewels,  plate,  and 
goods  of  immense  value,  which  had  been  sent  thither  from  all  the 
adjacent  parts  of  the  country  for  security  ;  the  governor  having 
rashly  declared  that  the  castle  was  impregnable  against  all  the 
force  that  could  be  brought  against  it.  The  greater  part  of  the 
valuables  were  conveyed  to  London  and  there  sold.  The  money 
thus  raised  was  sufficient  for  the  bestowal  of  five  shillings  on  each 
man  engaged  in  the  storming  of  the  place.  In  the  assault  and  sub- 
sequently, the  castle  was  practically  destroyed.  Only  the  water- 
gate  and  some  other  fragments  forming  the  wall  of  a  stable  remain 
to  the  present  day. 

The  Castle  connects  itself  with  the  fate  of  the  unfortunate  Duke 
of  Monmouth.  This  rash,  impolitic,  and  pusillanimous  man  has  a 
most  singular  and  interesting  history.  He  was  one  of  the  natural 
sons  i^\\.&  first,  it  is  supposed)  of  Charles  II.  His  mother,  Lucy 
Waters,  was  a  Welsh  girl  of  great  beauty,  but  of  weak  understand- 
ing and  dissolute  manners,  whom  Charles  had  met  at  the  Hague 
while  wandering  on  the  Continent.  As  a  result  of  the  intrigue  a 
son  was  born.  Upon  this  infant  Charles  lavished  an  overflowing 
fondness,  which  in  his  other  relations  of  life  did  not  seem  to  be 
characteristic  of  his  cool  and  careless  nature.  The  young  favourite, 
bom  of  a  mother  whom  Evelyn  describes  as  a  "  browne,  beautiful, 
bold,  but  insipid  creature,"  was  taught  in  France  the  exercises  con- 
sidered necessary  to  a  fine  gentleman  of  the  time,  and  was  com- 
mitted to  the  care  of  Lord  Crofts,  who  gave  him  his  own  name. 
After  the  Restoration  "  Mr.  James  Crofts,"  as  the  youth  was  called, 
came  to  England  and  was  handsomely  lodged  at  Hampton  Court 
and  Whitehall.  While  still  little  more  than  a  boy  he  was  married 
to  Anne  Scott,  heiress  of  the  noble  house  of  Buccleuch.  He  took 
her  name  and  at  the  same  time  entered  into  possession  of  her 
ample  domain.  The  fortune  that  is  said  to  drive  men  mad  before 
killing  them  now  began  to  turn  his  head.  Titles  and  substantial 
favours  were  heaped  upon  him.  He  was  created  Duke  of  Mon- 
mouth, Duke  of  Buccleuch,  Knight  of  the  Garter,  &c.,  &c.,  as  well 
as  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Cambridge.  Nor  did  he  appear 
an  (jbject  unworthy  of  such  favour.  Eminently  handsome  in  person, 
gentle  in  temper,  affable  and  polite  in  manners,  he  gathered  gra- 


560    Bridgewater  Castle  and  the  Battle  of  Scdgemoor. 

dually  around  him  a  party  of  considerable  strength.  Though  him- 
self a  libertine  he  had  the  Puritans  on  his  side.  His  exploits  iri 
Holland,  where,  as  commander  of  the  English  auxiliaries  sent  to 
the  Continent,  he  performed  many  gallant  actions,  raised  him  to 
a  high  place  in  the  opinion  of  the  English  people,  and  on  his  return 
he  found  himself  the  most  popular  man  in  the  kingdom.  In  1670 
he  was  put  forward  as  the  head  of  the  popular  party,  and  as  the 
rival  of  the  Duke  of  York  (afterwards  James  II.).  In  1678  thi 
rumour  that  the  "  Protestant  Duke,"  as  he  was  called,  was  indeed 
the  King^s  legitimate  son,  and  therefore  the  rightful  heir  to  the 
throne,  became  universal  and  was  generally  accepted.  In  1679  ^e 
was  sent  into  Scotland  to  quell  the  rebellion  there.  He  defeated 
the  Scots  at  Bothwell  Bridge ;  but  his  humanity  to  the  wounded 
and  to  the  hunted  fugitives  was  so  conspicuous,  his  requests  fo* 
mercy  to  the  prisoners  so  urgent,  that  they  drew  upon  him  at  once 
the  censures  of  the  King  and  Lauderdale,  and  justified  the  Noncon- 
formist party  in  making  him  their  idol.  He  now  began  to  dabble 
in  treacherous  schemes,  participated  in  the  Rye-house  plot,  and 
was  obliged  to  fly  to  the  Continent,  where  he  remained  till  the  death 
of  the  King.  He  then  embarked  for  England,  and  was  received 
with  acclamations  at  Taunton,  where  he  was  proclaimed  king 
under  the  title  of  James  II.  He  marched  to  Bridgewater,  was  wel- 
comed by  the  mayor  and  aldermen,  who  received  him  in  their 
robes,  and  proclaimed  him  King  at  the  high  cross  of  the  town.  He 
took  up  his  residence  in  Bridgewater  Castle,  while  his  army  lay 
encamped  on  Castle  Field.  His  force,  amounting  to  six  thousand 
men,  was  poorly  armed,  and  he  attempted  to  increase  his  army  and 
obtain  weapons  by  marching  from  place  to  place.  Meanwhile  the 
forces  of  the  government  were  assembling  fast. 

Monmouth  re-entered  Bridgewater  on  the  2nd  _  ily,  1685.  His 
forces  now  consisted  of  2500  foot  and  600  horse.  The  King's 
forces,  under  Lord  Faversham,  consisting  of  2500  regular  troops 
gnd  of  1500  of  the  Wiltshire  militia,  now  came  in  sight  and  pitched 
their  tents,  on  Sunday  the  sth  July,  on  the  plain  of  Scdgemoor. 
Monmouth  resolved  to  attack  them  ty  night. 

The  following  graphic  account  of  "the  last  fight  deserving 
the  name  of  battle  that  has  been  fought  on  English  ground" 
is  from  the  pages  of  England's  latest  and  most  brilliant  his- 
torian : — 

Monmouth,  having  observed  the  disposition  of  the  royal  forcesi 


Bridgewater  Castle  and  the  Battle  of  Sedgemoor.     56 1 

and  having  been  apprised  of  the  state  in  which  they  were,  conceived 
that  a  night  attack  might  be  attended  with  success.  He  resolved 
to  run  the  hazard,  and  preparations  were  instantly  made. 

It  was  Sunday;  and  his  followers,  who  had  for  the  most  part 
been  brought  up  after  the  Puritan  fashion,  passed  a  great  part  of 
the  day  in  religious  exercises.  The  Castle  Field  in  which  the 
enemy  was  encamped  presented  a  spectacle  such  as,  since  the  dis- 
banding of  Cromwell's  soldiers,  England  had  never  seen.  The 
dissenting  preachers  who  had  taken  arms  against  Popery,  and  some 
of  whom  had  probably  fought  in  the  great  Civil  War,  prayed  and 
preached  in  red  coats  and  huge  jack-boots,  with  swords  by  their 
sides.  Ferguson  was  one  of  those  who  harangued.  He  took  for 
his  text  the  awful  imprecation  by  which  the  Israelites  who  dwelt 
beyond  Jordan  cleared  themselves  from  the  charge  ignorantly 
brought  against  them  by  their  brethren  on  the  other  side  of  the 
river.  "  The  Lord  God  of  Gods,  the  Lord  God  of  Gods,  he 
knoweth  ;  and  Israel  he  shall  know.  If  it  be  in  rebellion,  or  if  in 
transgression  against  the  Lord,  save  us  not  this  day." 

That  an  attack  was  to  be  made  under  cover  of  the  night  was  no 
secret  in  Bridgewater.  The  town  was  full  of  women  who  had  re- 
paired thither  by  hundreds  from  the  surrounding  region  to  see  their 
luisbands,  sons,  lovers,  and  brothers  once  more.  There  were  many 
sad  partings  that  day,  and  many  parted  never  to  meet  again.  The 
report  of  the  intended  attack  came  to  the  ears  of  a  young  girl  who 
was  zealous  for  the  King.  Though  of  modest  character,  she  had 
the  courage  to  resolve  that  she  would  herself  bear  the  intelligence 
to  Feversham.  She  stole  out  of  Bridgewater  and  made  her  way  to 
the  royal  camp.  But  that  camp  was  not  a  place  where  female 
innocence  could  be  safe.  Even  the  officers,  despising  alike  the 
irregular  forces  to  which  they  were  opposed,  and  the  negligent 
general  who  commanded  them,  had  indulged  largely  in  wine,  and 
were  ready  for  any  excess  of  licentiousness  and  cruelty.  One  of 
them  seized  the  unhappy  maiden,  refused  to  listen  to  her  errand, 
:ind  brutally  outraged  her.  She  fled  in  agonies  of  rage  and  shame, 
leaving  the  wicked  army  to  its  doom. 

The  clock  struck  eleven,  and  the  Duke  with  his  body-guard  rode 

out  of  the  castle.     He  was  in  the  frame  of  mind  which  befits  one 

who  is  about  to  strike  .a  decisive  blow.     The  very  children  who 

pressed  to  see  him  pass,  observed,  and  long  remembered,  that  his 

.  fook  was  sad  and  full  of  evil  augury.     His  army  marched  by  a  cir- 

*  00 


562     Bridgewater  Castle  and  the  Battle  of  Sedgemoor. 

cuitous  path  near  six  miles  in  length,  towards  the  royal  encamp- 
ment on  Sedgemoor.  Part  of  the  route  is  to  this  day  called  War 
Lane.  The  foot  were  led  by  Monmouth  himself.  The  horse  were 
confided  to  Grey,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  some  who  re- 
membered the  mishap  at  Bridport.  Orders  were  given  that  strict 
silence  should  be  preserved,  that  no  drum  should  be  beaten  and  no 
shot  fired.  The  word  by  which  the  insurgents  were  to  recognise 
one  another  in  the  darkness  was  Soho.  It  had  doubtless  been 
selected  in  allusion  to  Soho  Fields  in  London,  where  their  leader's 
palace  stood. 

At  about  one  on  the  morning  of  Monday,  the  6th  of  July,  the 
rebels  were  on  the  open  moor.  But  between  them  and  the  enemy 
lay  three  broad  rhines  (ditches  or  trenches),  filled  with  water  and 
soft  mud.  Two  of  these,  called  the  Black  Ditch  and  the  Langmoor 
Rhine,  Monmouth  knew  that  he  must  pass.  But,  strange  to  say, 
the  existence  of  a  trench  called  the  Bussex  Rhine,  which  imme- 
diately covered  the  royal  encampment,  had  not  been  mentioned  to 
him  by  any  of  his  scouts. 

The  wains  which  carried  the  ammunition  remained  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  moor.  The  horse  and  foot,  in  a  long  narrow  column, 
passed  the  Black  Ditch  by  a  causeway.  There  was  a  similar  cause- 
way across  the  Langmoor  Rhine  ;  but  the  guide  in  the  fog  missed 
his  way.  There  was  some  delay  and  some  tumult  before  his  error 
could  be  rectified.  At  length  the  passage  was  effected,  but  in  the 
confusion  a  pistol  went  off.  Some  men  of  the  Horse  Guards,  who 
were  on  watch,  heard  the  report,  and  perceived  that  a  great  multi- 
tude was  advancing  through  the  mist.  They  fired  their  car- 
bines and  galloped  off  in  different  directions  to  give  the  alarm. 
Some  hastened  to  Weston  Zoyland,  where  the  cavalry  lay.  One 
trooper  spurred  to  the  encampment  of  the  infantry,  and  cried  out 
vehemently  that  the  enemy  was  at  hand.  The  drums  of  Dumbar- 
ton's regiment  beat  to  arms,  and  the  men  got  fast  into  their  ranks. 
It  was  time,  for  Monmouth  was  already  drawing  up  his  army  for 
action.  He  ordered  Grey  to  lead  the  way  with  the  cavalry,  and 
followed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  infantry.  Grey  pushed  on  till 
his  progress  was  unexpectedly  arrested  by  the  Bussex  Rhine.  On 
the  opposite  side  of  the  ditch  the  King's  foot  were  hastily  forming 
in  order  of  battle. 

"  For  whom  are  you  ?"  called  out  an  officer  of  the  Foot  Guards. 
"  For  the  king  1"  replied  a  voice  from  the  ranks  of  the  rebel  cavalry. 
**  For  which  king  ?"  was  then  demanded.    The  answer  was  a  shout 


Bridgewater  Castle  and  the  Battle  of  Sedgemoor.     563 

of  "  King  Monmouth  !"  mingled  with  the  war-cry,  which  forty  years 
before  had  been  inscribed  on  the  colours  of  the  Parliamentary 
regiments,  "  God  with  us."  The  royal  troops  instantly  fired  such 
a  volley  of  musketry  as  sent  the  rebel  horse  flying  in  all  directions. 
The  world  agreed  to  ascribe  this  ignominious  rout  to  Grey's  pusil- 
lanimity. Yet  it  is  by  no  means  clear  that  Churchill  would  have 
succeded  better  at  the  head  of  men  who  had  never  before  handled 
arms  on  horseback,  and  whose  horses  were  unused,  not  only  to 
stand  fire,  but  to  obey  the  rein. 

A  few  minutes  after  the  Duke's  horse  had  dispersed  themselves 
over  the  moor  his  infantry  came  up  running  fast,  and  guided 
through  the  gloom  by  the  lighted  matches  of  Dumbarton's 
regiment. 

Monmouth  was  startled  by  finding  that  a  broad  and  profound 
trench  lay  between  him  and  the  camp  which  he  had  hoped  to  sur- 
prise. The  insurgents  halted  on  the  edge  of  the  rhine,  and  fired. 
Part  of  the  royal  infantry  on  the  opposite  bank  returned  the  fire. 
During  three-quarters  of  an  hour  the  roar  of  the  musketry  was  in- 
cessant. The  Somersetshire  peasants  behaved  themselves  as  if 
they  had  been  veteran  soldiers,  save  only  that  they  levelled  their 
pieces  too  high. 

But  now  the  other  divisions  of  the  royal  army  were  in  motion. 
The  Life  Guards  and  Blues  were  pricking  fast  from  Weston 
Zoyland,  and  scattered  in  an  instant  some  of  Grey's  horse  who  had 
attempted  to  rally.  The  fugitives  spread  a  panic  among  their 
comrades  in  the  rear  who  had  charge  of  the  ammunition.  The 
waggoners  drove  off  at  full  speed,  and  never  stopped  till  they  were 
many  miles  from  the  field  of  battle.  Monmouth  had  hitherto  done 
his  part  like  a  stout  and  able  warrior.  He  had  been  seen  on  foot, 
pike  in  hand,  encouraging  his  infantry  by  voice  and  example.  But 
he  was  too  well  acquainted  with  military  affairs  not  to  know  that 
all  was  over.  His  men  had  lost  the  advantage  which  surprise  and 
darkness  had  given  them.  They  were  deserted  by  the  horse  and 
by  the  ammunition  waggons.  The  King^s  forces  were  now  united 
and  in  good  order.  Feversham  had  been  awakened  by  the  firing, 
had  got  out  of  bed,  had  adjusted  his  cravat,  had  looked  at  himself 
well  in  the  glass,  and  had  come  to  see  what  his  men  were  doing. 
Meanwhile,  what  was  of  much  more  importance,  Churchill  had 
made  an  entirely  new  disposition  of  the  royal  infantry.  The  day 
was  about  to  break.  The  event  of  a  conflict  on  an  open  plain,  by 
broad  sunlight,  could  not  be  doubtful.      Yet   Monmouth  should 

002 


564    Bridgewater  Castle  and  the  Battle  of  Sedgemoor. 

have  felt  that  it  was  not  for  him  to  fly,  while  thousands,  whom 
affection  for  him  had  hurried  to  destruction,  were  still  fighting 
manfully  in  his  cause.  But  vain  hopes  and  the  intense  love  of  life 
prevailed.  He  saw  that  if  he  tarried  the  royal  cavalry  would  soon 
intercept  his  retreat.     He  mounted  and  rode  from  the  field. 

Yet  his  foot,  though  deserted,  made  a  gallant  stand.  The  Life 
Guards  attacked  them  on  the  right,  the  Blues  on  the  left ;  but  the 
Somersetshire  clowns,  with  their  scythes  and  the  butt-ends  of  their 
muskets,  faced  the  royal  horse  like  old  soldiers.  Oglethorpe  made 
a  vigorous  attempt  to  break  them,  and  was  manfully  repulsed. 
Sarsfield,  a  brave  Irish  officer,  whose  name  afterwards  attained  a 
melancholy  celebrity,  charged  on  the  other  flank.  His  men  were 
beaten  back.  He  was  himself  struck  to  the  ground,  and  lay  for  a 
time  as  one  dead.  But  the  struggle  of  the  hardy  rustics  could  not 
last.  Their  powder  and  ball  were  spent.  Cries  were  heard  of 
"  Ammunition  !  for  God's  sake,  ammunition  !"  But  no  ammunition 
was  at  hand.  And  now  the  King's  artillery  came  up.  It  had  been 
posted  half  a  mile  off",  on  the  high  road  from  Weston  Zoyland  to 
Bridgewater.  So  defective  were  then  the  appointments  of  an 
English  army  that  there  would  have  been  much  difficulty  in 
dragging  the  great  guns  to  the  place  where  the  battle  was  raging, 
had  not  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  offered  his  coach  horses  and 
traces  for  the  purpose.  This  interference  of  a  Christian  prelate  in 
a  matter  of  blood  has,  with  strange  inconsistency,  been  condemned 
by  some  Whig  writers,  who  can  see  nothing  criminal  in  the  conduct 
of  the  numerous  Puritan  ministers  then  in  arms  against  the  Govern- 
ment. Even  when  the  guns  had  arrived  there  was  such  a  want  of 
gunners  that  a  sergeant  of  Dumbarton's  regiment  was  forced  to 
take  on  himself  the  management  of  several  pieces.  The  cannon, 
however,  though  ill  served,  brought  the  engagement  to  a  speedy 
close.  The  pikes  of  the  rebel  battalions  began  to  shake :  the  ranks 
broke  ;  the  King's  cavalry  charged  again,  and  bore  down  everything 
before  them ;  the  King's  infantry  came  pouring  across  the  ditch. 
Even  in  that  extremity  the  Mendip  miners  stood  bravely  to  their 
arms,  and  sold  their  lives  dearly.  But  the  rout  was  in  a  few 
minutes  complete.  Three  hundred  of  the  soldiers  had  been  killed 
\x  wounded.  Of  the  rebels  more  than  a  thousand  lay  dead  on  the 
»noor. 

Meanwhile  Monmouth,  accompanied  by  Grey  and  the  German, 
Buyer,  fled  from  the  field,  directing  their  course  to  the  New  Forest, 
in  ilampshire,  in  which  they  hoped  to  lurk  till  conveyance  to  the 


Bridgewatcr  Castle  and  the  Battle  of  Sedgemoor,     565 

Continent  could  be  procured.  At  Cranboume  Castle  the  stiength 
of  their  horses  failed  them,  and  the  fugitives  having  obtained  the 
clothes  of  common  rustics,  proceeded  thus  disguised  towards  the 
New  Forest  on  foot.  But  a  cordon  of  pursuers  was  now  around 
them,  and  was  closing  upon  them  every  hour.  On  the  morning  ot 
the  seventh  Grey  was  taken,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  following 
day  Buyer  was  taken.  The  German  owned  that  he  had  parted 
from  the  Duke  only  a  few  hours  before.  "The  corn  and  copse- 
wood,"  continues  Macaulay,  "  were  now  beaten  with  more  care  than 
ever.  At  length  a  gaunt  figure  was  discovered  hidden  in  a  ditch. 
The  pursuers  sprang  on  their  prey.  .  .  .  The  prisoner's  dre3S 
was  that  of  a  shepherd  ;  his  beard,  prematurely  grey,  was  of  several 
days'  growth.  He  trembled  greatly,  and  was  unable  to  speak.  Even 
those  who  had  often  seen  him  were  at  first  in  doubt  whether  this 
were  truly  the  brilliant  and  graceful  Monmouth.  .  .  .  Nothing 
remained  but  that  he  should  prepare  to  meet  death  as  became  one 
who  had  thought  himself  not  unworthy  to  wear  the  crown  of 
William  the  Conqueror  and  of  Richard  the  Lion-hearted,  of  the 
hero  of  Cressy,  and  of  the  hero  of  Agincourt.  .  .  .  But  the  forti- 
tude of  Monmouth  was  not  that  of  the  highest  sort  of  fortitude 
which  is  derived  from  reflection  and  from  self-respect.  .  .  . 
His  heart  sunk  within  him.  Life  seemed  worth  purchasing  by  any 
humiliation  ;  nor  could  his  mind,  always  feeble,  and  now  distracted 
by  terror,  perceive  that  humiliation  must  degrade,  but  could  not 
save  him." 

As  soon  as  he  reached  Ringwood  he  wrote  to  the  King.  The 
letter  was  that  of  a  man  whom  a  craven  fear  had  made  insensible 
to  shame.  He  professed  in  vehement  terms  his  remorse  for  his 
treason.  He  affirmed  that  when  he  promised  his  cousins  at 
the  Hague  not  to  raise  troubles  in  England,  he  had  fully  meant  to 
keep  his  word.  Unhappily  he  had  afterwards  been  seduced  from 
his  allegiance  by  some  horrid  people  who  had  heated  his  mind  by 
calumnies,  and  misled  him  by  sophistry.  He  begged  in  piteous 
terms  that  he  might  be  admitted  to  the  royal  presence.  The  King 
resolved  to  see  Monmouth,  but  resolved  also  to  show  him  no  mercy. 
"  To  see  him  and  not  to  spare  him  was  an  outrage  on  humanity 
and  decency.  This  outrage  the  King  resolved  to  commit.  The 
arms  of  the  prisoner  were  bound  behind  him  with  a  silken  cord, 
and  thus  secured  he  was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  the  impla- 
cable kinsman  whom  he  had  wronged." 

"  Then  Monmouth  threw  himself  on  the  ground,  and  crawled  to 


566    Bridgewaier  Casile  and  the  Battle  of  Sedgemoor. 

the  Kings's  feet.  He  wept.  He  tried  to  embrace  his  uncle's  knees 
with  his  pinioned  arms.  He  begged  for  hfe,  only  life,  life  at  any 
price.  He  owned  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  a  great  crime,  but 
tried  to  throw  the  blame  on  others,  particularly  on  Arg>'le,  who 
would  rather  have  put  his  legs  into  the  boots  than  have  saved  him- 
self by  such  baseness.  By  the  ties  of  kindred,  by  the  memory  of 
the  late  King,  who  had  been  the  best  and  truest  of  brothers,  the 
unhappy  man  adjured  James  to  show  some  mercy.  .  .  .  One 
depth  of  infamy  alone  remained ;  and  even  to  that  the  prisoner 
descended.  He  was  pre-eminently  the  champion  of  the  Protestant 
religion.  The  interest  of  that  religion  had  been  his  plea  for  con- 
spiracy against  the  government  of  his  father,  and  for  bringing  on 
his  country  the  miseries  of  civil  war,  yet  he  was  not  ashamed  to 
hint  that  he  was  inclined  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Church  of  Rome. 
The  King  eagerly  offered  him  spiritual  assistance,  but  said  nothing 
of  pardon  or  respite.  '  Is  there  then  no  hope.'"  asked  Monmouth. 
James  turned  away  in  silence.  Then  Monmouth  strove  to  rally  his 
courage,  rose  from  his  knees,  and  retired  with  a  firmness  which  he 
had  not  shown  since  his  overthrow." 

When,  on  Monday  night,  the  date  appointed  for  his  execution 
— the  Wednesday  morning  following — was  announced  to  him,  he  was 
greatly  agitated.  "  The  blood  left  his  cheeks,  and  it  was  some  time 
before  he  could  speak."  During  the  interval  between  this  time  and 
the  fatal  morning  Monmouth  sank  into  a  condition  of  abject 
despair.  On  the  scaffold  he  presented  the  executioner,  John  Ketch, 
whose  name  has  been  used  generically  since  this  period,  with  a 
sum  of  money.  "  Do  not  hack  me  as  you  did  my  Lord  Russel," 
said  he.  "  I  have  heard  that  you  struck  him  three  or  four  times. 
My  servant  will  give  you  some  more  gold  if  you  do  the  work  well." 
He  then  undressed,  felt  the  edge  of  the  axe,  expressed  some  fear 
that  it  was  not  sharp  enough,  and  laid  his  head  on  the  block. 

The  hangman  addressed  himself  to  his  office.  But  he  had  been 
disconcerted  by  what  the  Duke  had  said.  1  he  first  blow  inflicted 
only  a  slight  wound.  The  Duke  struggled,  rose  from  the  block, 
and  looked  reproachfully  at  the  executioner.  The  head  sank  down 
once  more.  The  stroke  was  repeated  again  and  again,  but  still  llie 
neck  was  not  severed,  and  the  body  continued  to  move.  Yells  of 
rage  and  horror  rose  from  the  crowd.  Ketch  flung  down  the  axe 
with  a  curse.  "  I  cannot  do  it,"  said  he,  "  my  heart  fails  me." 
"  Take  up  the  axe,  man,"  cried  the  sheriff.  "  Fling  him  over  the 
rails/'  roared  the  mob.     At  length  the   axe  was  taken  up.     Two 


Canyngton  Priory  and  Fair  Rosamond.  567 

more  blows  extinguished  the  last  remains  of  life,  but  a  knife  was 
used  to  separate  the  head  from  the  shoulders." 

And  so  the  revolting  scene — the  last  scene  of  a  frivolous  and 
wicked  drama — comes  to  an  end. 


Canyngton  Priory  and  Fair  Rosamond. 

A  little  more  than  three  miles  from  Bridgewater,  on  the  road  from 
that  town  through  Nether  Stowey  and  Williton  to  Dunster  and  Por- 
lock,  stands  the  pleasant  village  of  Canyngton.  One  first  gets  a 
glimpse  of  the  tall  and  stately  tower  of  its  parish  church  on  sur- 
mounting the  rising  ground  at  Wembdon,  from  whence  the  eye 
embraces  a  spacious  expanse  of  cultivated  valley,  backed  by  the 
lofty  mass  of  mountain  limestone  known  by  the  name  of  Canyng- 
ton Park,  and  bounded  on  the  right  by  the  flat  banks  of  the  Parret 
and  on  the  left  by  the  green  glades  of  Brymore.  As  he  approaches 
the  village,  the  traveller  finds  that  the  description  of  Leland,  who 
journeyed  over  the  same  road  three  centuries  ago,  is  still  apphcable 
in  the  main  to  the  scene  before  him.  Canyngton  is  yet  "  a  praty 
uplandisch  towne,"  and  our  modern  wayfarer,  as  he  enters  it, 
*'  passes,"  as  did  his  predecessor,  "  over  a  bygge  brooke  that  risith 
not  far  of  by  west  yn  the  hilles,  and  passing  by  Canyngtun  renneth 
into  the  haven  of  Bridgwater,  a  2  .  miles  and  more  by  estimation 
lower  than  Bridgwater."  The  place,  although  now  nothing  more  than 
a  village,  has  an  air  of  having  once  been  of  far  greater  importance. 
On  approaching  the  church  the  eye  is  immediately  attracted  by 
some  venerable  enclosures,  which  surround  an  area  of  several  acres, 
and  unmistakeably  suggest  the  ancient  tenure  of  the  spot  by  some 
religious  community.  The  church  itself  is  a  restored  specimen  of 
Somersetshire  Perpendicular,  despoiled  of  its  most  interesting 
features.  Adjacent  to  the  north  side  of  the  chancel,  which  is  on 
that  side  without  windows,  was  a  Priory  of  Benedictine  Nuns. 
Their  church,  according  to  Leland,  was  "  hard  adnexid  to  the  est 
of  the  Paroche  Church."  Very  little  is  now  to  be  seen  of  this  struc- 
ture. The  fragments  which  remain  of  the  nuns'  abode  consist  of  a 
part  of  the  basement,  and  including  two  or  three  small  internal 
doorways. 

In  the  history  of  this  ancient  house  both  legend  and  reliable  fact 
enter.  As  the  residence  of  a  conventual  body,  Canyngton  Priory 
was  neither  large  nor  wealthy. 


568  Canytigton  Priory  and  Fair  Rosamond. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  King  Stephen,  or  about  the  year 
1138,  Robert  de  Curci,  or  Curcy,  called  William,  but  erroneously, 
by  CoUison,  founded  the  Priory  of  Canyngton  for  a  community  of 
Benedictine  Nuns.  The  good  founder  was  sewer,  or  chief  butler, 
to  the  Empress  Maud  ;  and  his  name,  together  with  those  of  Milo, 
Earl  of  Hereford,  Robert  de  Oilli,  and  others,  may  be  noticed 
among  the  witnesses  to  a  charter  of  hers,  dated  at  Oxford,  in  con- 
firmation, to  the  monks  of  St.  Martin,  at  Paris,  of  a  donation  by 
Baldewin,  Earl  of  Devon,  to  that  monastery,  of  the  chapel  of  St. 
James's,  Exeter.  His  father,  Richard  de  Curcy,  held,  at  the  time 
of  the  Domesday  survey,  Neuham,  Secendene,  and  Foxcote,  in  the 
county  of  Oxford.  The  credit  of  the  foundation  has  also  been 
given  incorrectly  to  William  de  Romare,  Earl  of  Lincoln.  The 
heads  of  the  family  of  Curcy,  were,  however,  the  constant  and 
ordinary  patrons.  The  House  was  dedicated  to  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
but  of  the  circumstances  of  the  foundation  or  of  the  extent  of  the 
original  endowment  no  record  has  been  preserved. 

Within  thirty-five  years  after  the  first  establishment,  a  personage 
is  traditionally  associated  with  the  community,  around  whom  a 
romantic  interest  has  ever  since  revolved.  The  connexion  of  this 
personage  with  the  place  is  purely  legendary  ;  but  the  personage  is 
no  less  celebrated  than  the  lady  usually  designated  "  Fair  Rosa- 
mond." 

These  particulars  have  been  gleaned  from  a  paper  read  to  the 
Somerset  Archaeological  Society,  by  the  Rev.  Thomas  Hugo. 


INDEX 


TO 


THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


ABBEY  of  St.  Bennet,  396 
Abbot's     Kitchen,     Glaston- 
bury, 553 

Accession    of  Queen   Victoria,    at 
Kensington  Palace,  152 

Addison  and  the  Earl  of  Warwick 
at  Holland  House,  161 

Adventures  of  Sir  Gawen,  482 

Aikin,  Miss,   her  Life  of  Addison, 
162 

Albemarle,    the  Duke  of,  at  New 
Hall,  265 

Alchemy  at  Old  Somerset  House, 

85 
Alderney,  Isle  of,  539 
Alfred,  King,  in  the  Isle  of  Athel- 

ney,  540 
AUington   Castle  and  the  Wyatts, 

313 
Anne  Boleyn  at  Ilever  Castle,   294 

et  seq. 
Anne  Boleyn,  Burial-place  of,  300 
Apparitions  at  Holland  House,  163 
Arabella,  Lady,  her  Fatal  Marriage, 

98 
Archiepiscopal  Palace  at  Croydon, 

153 

Archbishops  of  Canterbury  at  Croy- 
don Palace,  154 
•'  Armada,  the  Invincible,"  Fate  of, 

243 
Arms  and  Armour  at  Carlton  House, 

158 
Arms  and  Armour  in  the  Tower,  18 
Arthur,  King,  the  Grave  of,  550 


Arthur,  King,  Memorials  of,  ia 
Cornwall,  500 

Arthur's  Round  Table  at  Win- 
chester, 386 

Arthurian  Romances,  387 

Arundel,  Archbishop,  at  Lambeth 
Palace,  60 

Arundel  Castle,  367 

Assassination  of  Thomas  a  Becket, 
348  et  seq. 

Athelney,  Isle  of,  and  King  Alfred's 
Monastery,  540 

Audley  End,  230 

Aurendell,  Sir  John,  528 


BANKES'S    Plorse,   at  Old    St. 
Paul's,  6 
Barking  Abbey,  232 
Baron's  Cave,  Reigate  Castle,  279 
Barony  by  Tenure,  369 
Bartholomew  Fair,  Origin  of,  5 1 
Bartholomew  the  Great,   Prioiy  of, 

51 

Basing  House,  Siege  of,  403 

Bath  Abbey,  542 

Battle  Abbey,  360 

Battle  of  Lewes,  378 

Baynard's    Castle    and   Bayswater, 

55 
Baynard's  Castle  in  the  Great  Fire, 

54 
Baynard's  Castle,  Romance  of,  52 
Beauchamp    Tower,   Memories  of, 

26—30 


570 


Index. 


Beaulieu  Abbey,  399 

Becket,  Thomas  a,  at  Lambeth 
Palace,  62  ;  Shrine  of,  and  Assas- 
sination of,  at  Canterbury,  348  et 
seq. 

Beehive  Houses  in  Cornwall,  506 

Beggar's  Daughter  of  Betlmal  Green, 
Ballad  of,  56 

Bell-tower,  Tower  of  London,   22, 

23.  24 
Bermondsey  Abbey  and  its  Memo- 
ries, 41 
Bermondsey  Priory.  47 
Berry  Pomeroy  Castle,  473 
JMack  Friars,  Account  of  the  Priory 

or  Monastery  of  the,  183 — 188 
Black  Prince   returning  from  Poic- 

tiers,  63 
Bloody  Tower  of  London,  18,  20 
Bodiam  Castle,  364 
Bodmin  and  its  Monasteries,  501 
liodmin  Riding,  503 
Boleyn,  Anne,  in  the  Tower,  30 
Boleyn  Family,  the,  294  et  seq. 
I^otelers,  Earls  of  Ormonde,  the,  256 
Bow  Bridge,  History  of,  232 
Bramber  Castle,  363 
Braybrooke,    Bishop,    at    Old   St. 

Paul's,  6 
Braybrooke,  Lord,  Editor  of  Pepys' 

Diary,  231 
Bridgewater  Castle  and  the  Battle  of 

Sedgemoor,  558 
Bristol  Monastery  and  Castle,  543 
Brown,  Sir  Anthony,  of  Cowdray, 

375.  376 

Buckingham,  George  Villiers,  the 
first  Duke  of,  258  et  seq. 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  at  Baynard's 
Castle,  53 

Buckfastleigh  and  its  Abbey,  479 

Buckland  Abbey,  488 

Building  of  Westminster  Abbey,  7 

Burghlcy,  the  great  Lord,  at  Theo- 
balds, 189,  190 
\    Burial-place  of  Harold,  243 — 251 


/^AMDEN    deicribes    Nonsuch, 

^     145 

Cain|wicii  House,   Kcnsinfrton,  Ac- 
count of,  178—180 


Campden,  Lord,  Notice  of,  178 
Campeggio,  Cardinal,  at  the  Black- 
friars,  185 
Canning,  Elizabeth,  Story  of,  167 
Canonbury  House  and  its  Tenants, 

91,  95 

Canonbury  and  Lady  Elizabeth 
Compton,  90 

Canonbury  Tower,  95 

Canons,  near  Edgware,  and  "the 
Great  Duke  of  Cliandos,"  194 

Canterbury  Cathedral,  343 — 354 

Canterbury,  St.  Augustine's  Mon- 
astery at,  331 

Canterbury  Castle,  333 

Canute  and  the  Monastery  at  West- 
minster, 8 

Canute,  King,  rebukes  his  Courtiers, 

Canyington  Priory  and  Fair  Rosa- 
mond, 567 

Carlton  House  described  by  Wal- 
pole,  152 

Carisbrook  Castle,  419 

Cam-brea  Castle,  505 

Castle  Cornet,  Guernsey,  533 

Catherine,  Queen,  Trial  of,  at  Black- 
friars,  185 

Caxton's  Works  at  Ham  House,  160 

Ceme  Abbey,  359 

Chandos,  the  Great  Duke  of,  194 

Charles  I.  at  Carisbrook  Castle, 
422 

Charles  I.  at  Greenwich  Palace,  127 

Charles  L  at  Hampton  Court  Palace, 
141 

Charles  I.  at  Richmond  Palace,  136, 

137 
Charles   IL    bom   at    St.   James's 

Palace,  149 
Chaucer  at  the  Savoy,  65 
Cliertsey  Abbey,  281 
Chicheley,  Archbishop,  at  Lambeth 

Palace,  61 
Chichester  Cathedral,  380 
Child,  Sir  Francis,  builds  Osterley, 

166 
Chikle  of  Plimstocke,  472 
Christchurch  Priory,  415 
Clavells,  the  Family  of  the,  465 
Cobham  Church  and  its  Monuments, 

341 


Index. 


571 


Cobham  Hall,  340 

Cobham,  Lord,  Raleigh's,  Death  of, 

157 
Cock  Lane  Ghost,  Horace  Walpole  s 

Account  of  a  Visit  to,  182 
Cockpit  at  Westminster,  170 
Coke  and  Lady  Hatton,  77 
Colchester  Castle  a  Temple  of  Clau- 
dius, 215 
Colchester  Castle,  211 
Colechurch,  Peter  of,  builds  London 

Bridge  of  Stone,  36 
Combe  Marten  Celebrities,  477 
Compton,  Lady  Llizabeth,  92 
Compton  Castle,  475 
>/Corfe  Castle,  453  et  seq. 

Cornish  Family  Traditions,  527 
Cornish  Hill  Castles,  510 
Cornish  Piskies,  484 
Cothele  House,  519 
Cowdray  House,  373 
Cowley  and  the  Savoy,  69 
Crispes  of  the  Isle  of  Thanet,  the, 

280 
Cromwell  dies  at  Whitehall,  170 
Cromwell,     Richard,     at    Merdon, 

389 
Cromwell's  Siege  of  Basing  House, 

406 
Croydon  Palace,  153 
Croydon  Park,  155 
Curfew  at  Chertsey,  283 


T\  ACRE,  Lord,  of  the  South,  370 
■*-^     Dance  of  Death  at  Old  St. 

Paul's,  6 
Dartford  Nunnery,  312 
Dartmouth  Castle,  481 
Davenant,    Sir   William,  at   Caris- 

brook  Castle,  426 
Death  Fetch,  the,  of  William  Rufus, 

517 
Death  Token  of  the  Vingoes,  527 
**  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  Origin  of, 

156  ^ 

De  Veres  of  Hedingham  Castle,  229 
Devonshire  Piskies,  484 
Denmark  House  in  the  Strand,  86 
Dials,  Curious  at  Whitehall,  172 
Dole  at  Lambeth  Palace-gate,  62 
Dorchester  Castle  and  Priory,  440 


Dover  Castle,  323 
Dowsing,  the  Iconoclast,  517 
Drake,   Sir  Francis,  Life  and  Ad- 
ventures of,  489  et  seq. 
Dream,  singular,  regarding  the  Death 
of  George  Villiers,  first  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  262 — 264 
Dunmow  Priory  Expenses,  224 
Dunmow  Priory,  Little,  222 
Dunster  Castle  and  Priory,  546 
Durham  House,  Strand,  its  History 
and  Occupants,  173 — 178 


PASTBURV  House,  235 
^-'     Easter  Sepulchre  at  Glaston- 
,  bury,  555 
Edgecumbe  Family,  Account  of  the, 

,517 
Edward  the  Confessor,   Funeral  of, 

10 
Edward  the  Confessor's  Palace  at 

Havering,  240 
Edward     the    Confessor's    Palace, 

Westminster,  8 
Edward,  King,  slain  at  Corfe  Castle, 

456 
Edward  III.  and  the  Black  Prince 

at  Kennington,  128 
Edward    IV.    at     Eltham    Palace, 

Edward    VI.    bom    at     Hampton 

Court,  141 
Elizabeth  Castle,  Jersey,  534 
Elizabeth,  Princess,  at  Carisbrook, 

425 
Elizabeth,     Queen,     at     Cowdray 

House,  373 
Elizabeth  Woodville  on  Old  London 

Bridge,  44,  45 
Elizabeth  of  York  at  Bermondsey. 

43 
Elizabeth,      Queen,      at     Croydon 

Palace,  154 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  at  Eltham  Palace, 

132 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  at  Enfield  Chace, 

167 
Elizabeth,    Queen,    at    Greenwich, 

125 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  dies  at  Richmond 

Palace,  135 


572 


Index. 


Elizabeth,  Queen,  at  Tilbury  Fort, 

241 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  at  Whitehall,  168 
Ellington  Murder,  the,  335 
Eltham  Palace,   its  Remains,   132, 

133 
Eltham  Palace,  129 
Enfield  Palace,  166 
Epitaph,  Eccentric,  155 
Essex,  Earl  of,  executed,  74 
Essex  House,  Siege  of,  70 
Exeter  Castle,  470 


"pAIR  Geraldine,  Story  of,  143 
•*■       Fair  Rosamond  and  Canyngton 

Priory,  567 
Farnham  Castle,  273 — 276 
Fatal     Marriage    of     "The    Lady 

Arabella,"  98 
Faversham  Abbey,  321 
Fees,  Prisoners',  at  the  Tower,  21 
Felton,  John,  Assassin  of  the  Duke 

of  Buckingham,  261 
Field  of  Forty  Footsteps,  the,  107 
Flitch  of  Bacon  Custom  at  Little 

Dunmow,  224  et  scq. 
Folkestone    Castle    and    Nunnery, 

327 
Fox,  C.  J.,  at  Holland  House,  161 
Funeral  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  138 
J'uneral     of    Sir     Edmund     Berry 

Gotlfrey,  89 


("'EORGE    I.    and    H.    at    St. 

^^     James's  Palace,  15 1 

Glastonbury  Abbey,  548 

Glastonbury  Tliorn,  554 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  at  Baynard's 
Castle,  53 

Gloucester,  William,  Duke  of.  his 
Tutors  and  Residence  at  Campden 
House,  179 

Godfrey,  Sir  Edmund  Berry,  Myste- 
rious Death  of,  87 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  at  Canonbury,  96 

Gondomar  and  Lady  Halton,  81 

Greenwich  Castle,  127 

Greenwich,  Early  History  of,  120 

Gresham,  Sir  Thom.is,  at  Oslcrley 
Pork,  165 


Grey,  Lady  Jane,  in  the  Tower,  27; 
her  Residence  at  Durham  House, 
173  ;  her  Execution,  174 — 176 

Grotto  at  Oatlands,  147 

Guildford  Castle,  266 

Gundreda's  Bones  recovered,  379 

Gundulf,  Bishop,  15 

Gundulf  builds  Rochester  Castle, 
288 

Gwynn,  Nell,  and  Charles  II.,  170 


"pr  ALL  of  Hampton  Court  Palace, 

^         143 

Halliwell,  Mr.,  and  the  Adventures 

of  Sir  Gawen,  482 
Ham  House,  Pictures  and  Curiosities 

at,  159,  160 
Ham  House,  Petersham,  built,   159 
Ham  House  and  the  Dysart  Family, 

159 
Hampton  Court  Palace,  139 
Handel  at  Canons,  196 
Harold,  Burial-place  of,  243 
Hartshorne,  Rev.   Mr.,  his  History 

of  Colchester  Castle,  213 
Hastings  Castle,  357 
Hatton,  Sir  Christopher,  Tomb  of,  5 
Hatton    Plouse,    Coke    and    Lady 

Hatton,  80 
Hatton,  Lady,   Strange  History  of, 

77 

Havering-atte-Bower,  240 

Hedingham  Castle,  229 

1  lenry  of  Oatlands,  148 

Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  at  Rich- 
mond, 136 

Plenry  II.  and  III.,  and  Waltham 
Abbey  Church,  244 

Henry  IV.,  V.,  and  VI.,  at  Eltham 
Palace,  131 

Henry   VII.  at  Richmond  Palace, 

134 
Henry    VIII.    and    Anne    Boleyn, 

married  at  Whitehall,  168 
Henry  VIII.  at  Eltham  Palace,  131 
lleiny  VIII.  born  at   Greenwich, 

122 

Henry  VIII.   at  Waltham  Abbey, 

246 
Henry  VI H.  and  Anne  Boleyn  at 

ilcver,  297 


Index. 


573 


Ilentzner's  Portrait  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, 125 
Hever    Castle    and  Anne   Boleyn, 

294 
Hicks,  Baptist,  Lord  Campden,  178 
Holbein's  Gatehouse  at  Whitehall, 

168 
Holland,  .Lord,    dies    at    Holland 

House,  161 
Holland  House  designed  by  Thorpe, 

168 
Holywell  Priory,  Shoreditch,  83 
.Hospital  of  St.  Cross,  Winchester, 

390 
•'  House  of  Delight "  at  Greenwich, 

127 
Howard,  Queen  Catherine,  at  Sion, 

157 
Humphery,    Duke,   at    Greenwich, 

121 
Hurstmonceux  Castle,  370 


T  NGATESTONE  Hall— Hiding- 

places  of  Priests,  235 — 238 
Inscriptions  in  the  Tower,  28,  29 
"Invincible  Armada,"  Fate  of  the, 

243 

Isle  of  Wight,  the,  417 
Islington,  Old,  90 


TAMES    I.  at  Theobalds  Palace, 
•'       193  ;  at  Brougham  Castle,  227 
James  II.  at  Faversham  Abbey,  322; 

his  Reception  and  Treatment  of  the 

Duke  of  Monmouth,  565,  566 
Jenkins,  Henry,  Great  Age  of,  266 
John  of  Eltham,  130 
John  of  Gaunt  at  the  Savoy,  63,  65 
John,  King  of  France,  at  the  Savoy, 

64 
n      s,     Inigo,    at    Old     Somerset 
H     ouse,  87 
Jousting,  extraordinary,  on  London 

Bridge,  38 


T/'  ATHERINE,     Princess,     and 
■'■^     Old  London  Bridge,  42 
Kennington  Palace  and  the  Princes 
of  Wales,  128 


Kennington  and  its  Royal  Own-sre, 

129 
Kennington  Palace,  151 
Kilbum  Priory,  Legend  of,  1 3 
Killigrews,  the  Last  of  the,  529 
Knights   Hospitallers   of  St.    John 

—- of  Jerusalem,  117  

Knights  Templars  in  London,  112 
Knole  Park  and  Buckhurst,  308 


T   AM  BETH  and  "  the  Lady  Ara- 

•^     bella,"  99 

Lambeth  Palace,  58 

Lanfranc  and  Wulstan  at  Westmin- 
ster, 9 

Launceston  Castle,  503 

Leeds  Castle,  Kent,  314 

Legend  of  Glastonbury,  556 

Legends  of  Minster  Abbey,  336 — 
340 

Legend  of  Kilbum  Priory,  13 

Lesnes  Abbey,  310 

Lewes  Castle  and  Priory,  378 

Letter,  curious,  of  Lady  Elizabeth 
Compton,  92 

Living  at  Odiham  Castle,  401 

Lollards,  the,  at  Lambeth  Palace,  58 

"London Bridge  isbroken  down,"35 

London  Bridge,  Old,  Legends  and 
Ballads  of,  33  ;  Buildings  on,  39 

Looking-glass,  Lines  to  Nell 
Gwynn's,  254 

Lovell,  Sir  Thomas,  at  Halliwell 
Priory,  83,  84 

Ludlam's  Hole,  273 

LuUworth  Castle,  452 

Lydford  Castle,  474 


A/TACAULAY     describes      the 
^^^   Death  of  Charles  IL,  170;  his 
Account  of  the  Abolition  of  the 
Privileges  of  Sanctuary  at  Black- 
friars,  186 — 188  ;  of  the  Battle  of 
Sedgemoor,  560  ei  seq. 
Mailing  Abbey,  319 
Masquerade,  first,  in  England,  124 
Medal  of  Sir  Edmund  Berry  God- 
frey's Murder,  90 
Merdon  Manor  and  the  Cromwells, 
3S9 


^  cU. '^^•^v-^^^  _  CjOU,,,.,^,^^^       v^^ou 


574 


Index. 


Merton  Priory,  284 

Minones,  Origin  of,  155 

Minster      Abbey,      Legends       of, 

336—340 
Monk,  Gen.,  plans  the  Restoration 

at  St.  James's  Palace,  149 
Monmouth,  the  Duke  of,  his  Life 

and  Death,  559  ^^  ^^1- 
Montague    Fields    and    the    Forty 

Footsteps,  106 
Montague,    Lord,    and     the    mad 

Duchess  of  Newcastle,  105 
Montfichet  Castle,  56 
Moor    Park    and    House,    Surrey, 

271—273 
More,   Sir  Thomas,  Speech  of,  at 

the  Parliament  held  at  Blackfriars, 

185 
Momington,  Countess  of,  239 
Mount    Edgecumbe,    and    Cothele 

House,  515 
Mount  in  Richmond  Park,  137 
Mount  St.  Michael,  Cornwall,  497 
Mount  Orgueil  Castle,  538 
Mystery  performed  at  Ely  House, 

85 


"VTELL  GWYNN,  Characteristics 
■'■^    of,  252 

Nell  Gwynn's  House  and  Looking- 
glass,  252-255 
Nelson,  Lord,  at  Merton,  285  n. 
Netley    Abbey    and    its    Legend, 

397 
Newcastle  House  and  its  Eccentric 

Duchess,  103,  104 
New  Hall  Manor,  256 — 265 
Newark  Priory,  276 
Nonsuch   House,  on   Old  London 

Bridge,  39 
Nonsuch     Palace,     described      by 

Evelyn  and  Pepys,  144 — 147 
Northampton  Family   and  Canon- 
bury,  94 
Northuml)erland,  the  Duke  of,  the 

Conspiracy  of   the,    at  Durham 

House,  173 
Northumberland     House,     in     the 

Strand,  Account  of,  180 — 182 
Nottingham,  Lady,  and  the  Essex 

Ring,  76 


(^AK,    Sydney,     at     Penshurst, 
^^  307 

Oath,  Flitch  of  Bacon,  at  Dunmow, 

226,  228 
Oatlands,  Palace,  146 
Odiham  Castle,  400 
Orleans,  Charles  of,  in  the  Tower, 

30 
Ormonde,    the  Botelers,   Earls   of, 

256 
Osborne  House,  427 
Osterley    Park    and     Sir    Thomas 

Graham,  165 
Overs,  John,  the  Ferryman,  and  his 

Daughter,  32,  33 


pAINTED    Chamber    at    West- 

minster,  9 
Paul's  Cross,  4 
Paul's  Walk,  5 

Penances  on  Old  London  Bridge,  37 
Pendennis  Castle,  514 
Penderells,    and    the     Escape     of 

Charles  II.,  424,  425 
Pengerswick  Castle  and  its  Legends, 

521 
Penshurst  Place  and  the  Sydneys, 

303 
Pepys  and  the   Duchess  of  New- 
castle, 103 
Pepys  seeking  for  Treasure  in  the 

Tower,  31 
Pevensey  Castle,  355 
Piskies    of  Devon    and    Cornwall, 

484 
Placentia    Palace    at     Greenwich, 

121 
Forchester  Castle,  413 
Pole,  William  de  la,  first  Duke  of 

Suffolk,  his  Fall  and  Death,  184 
Pretender,  the  Old,  at  St.  James's 

Palace,  149 
Priests'  Hiding-places,  235 — 238 
Primrose  Hill  and  Godfrey's  Murder, 

88,  89 
Princes  in  the  Tower  of  London, 

Murder  of,  19 
Priory  of  St.   John   of  Jenisalem, 

115,  119 
Prisoners  in  the  Tower  of  London, 

22,  23 


Index. 


575 


QUEEN    MARY    dies    at    St. 
James's  Palace,  149 


■p  AHERE  founds  the  Priory  of 

-'■^    St.  Bartholomew,  47 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  in  the  Tower, 
24,  25  ;  at  Durham  House,  176 — 
1 78 ;    and  at    Sherborne  Castle, 

449 
Reculver,  291  ;  Church  of,  292 
Regency  of  George  IV,  at  Carlton 

House,  153 
Reigate  Castle,  278 
Richard  II.  at  Eltham  Palace,  130 
Richard   II.    at   Waltham   Abbey, 

246 
Richborough  Castle,  290 
Richmond  Palace  built,  134,  135 
Ring  sent  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to 

Essex,  71 
Rochester  Castle,  286 
Roll  of  Battle  Abbey,  362 
Roman  Villa  at  Andover,  409 
Romance  of  Sir  Bevis,  394 
Royal      Tombs     at     Westminster 

Abbey,  11 
Rufus,    Death  Fetch   of   William, 

527 


C  AFFRON  Walden  Castle,  230 
*^     Saffron,  culture  of,   at  Saffron 

Walden,  231 
St.  Albans  Abbey  Church,  191 
St.  Augustine's  Monastery  at  Can- 
terbury, 331 
St.    Augustine,    first    visit     of,    to 

Britain,  344 
St.    Cross's   Hospital,    Winchester, 

390 
St.  Giles's  Hill  Fair,  393 
St.  Germans'  Priory,  505 
St,  James's  Palace  founded,  148 
St.  John's  Gate,  Clerkenwell,  119 
St.  Osyth's  Priory,  Ruins  of,  216 — 
221 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  Old,  London, 

founded,  i 
St.  Paul's,  Old,  John  of  Gaunt,  at  2 
Si.  Paul's,  Old,  Miracles  at,  4 
St.  Paul's,  Old,  Richard  II,  at,  2 


St,  Paul's,  Old,  Tombs  in,  $ 

St.  Paul,  the  Patron  Saint  of  Lon- 
don, 3 

St.  Peter's  Chapel,  in  the  Tower,  18 

Saltwood  Castle,  317 

Sandal  Castle,  272 

Sandgate  Castle,  327 

Sandown  Castle,  326 

Savoy  Chapel  Marriages,  69 

Savoy  Gate  in  the  Strand,  70 

Savoy  Palace,  Pillage  of  the,  63 — 67 

Savoy,  Stories  of  the,  63 

Scott's  Account  of  the   Bullies  of 
Elackfriars,  188 

Sedgemoor,  the  Battle  of,  ^6oe(  seg. 

Seymour,   Lord   Admiral,   at   Dur- 
ham House,  173 

Shaftesbury    Nunnery,    and     Prize 
Byzant,  446 

vShene,  or  Richmond  Palace,  133 

Sherborne  Abbey,  448 

Sherborne   Castle  and   Sir   Walter 
Raleigh,  449 

Shops  and  Signs  on   Old   London 
Bridge,  40 

Shrine    of   Thomas    k    Becket    at 
Canterbury,  348 

Siege  of  Essex  House,  70 

Silchester,  Roman  City  of,  407 

Sion  House,  Northumberland  Family 
at,  158 

Sion  Nunnery,  157 

Smedmore  House,  465 

Somerset,    Duke    of,    builds    Sio 
House,  157 

Somerset   House,   Old,   Stories  ol 
36 

Somei-set,  Protector,  Execution  ol 
158 

"  Sorores  Minores,"  Abbey  of,   I5( 

Southampton  Castle,  394 

Southampton,    Ancient   Houses  at 

394 
Spencer,  Rich,  at  Canonbury  House. 

91 
Spenser  at  Essex  House,  70 
Star    Chamber,     Stories     of     the, 

201  ;  its  Trials  and  Punishments, 

207 — 210 
Stanton  Drew  Tradition,  541 
Statutes  of  Eltham,  130 
Stoke  Pogeis  and  liady  Ilatton,  82 


57^ 


Index. 


Stories  of  the  Star  Chamber,  201 
Stories  of  the  Savoy,  63 
Stories  of  Old  Somerset  House,  85 
Stories  of  Temple  Bar,  107 
Strand  Maypole,  the,  238 
Strathfieldsaye   and    the    Duke    of 

Wellington,  410 
Stuart  Family,  Portraits  of,  at  Sion, 

159 

Stutfall  Castle,  292 

Subterranean  Chambers  in  Corn- 
wall, 506 

Suffolk,  the  first  Duke  of,  his  Fall 
and  Death,  184 

Swift  and  Temple  at  Moor  Park, 
271,  272 

Sydneys  at  Penshurst,  303 


'pAUNTON  Castle,  547 
Tavistock  Abbey,  471 
Templars  in  England,   History  of, 

116,  117 
Temple  Bar  rebuilt  by  Wren,  108 
Temple  Bar,  Ceremony  at,  ill 
Temple  Bar,  Stories  of,  107 
Temple  and  Budgell  at  Old  London 

Bridge,  41 
Temple  Church  in  London,  113 
Tenor   bell   of  Sherborne    Abbey, 

449 
Theobalds'  Palace,  Cheshunt,  188 
Thetford  Priory,  533 
Thorney  Island,  Westminster,  7 
Thornton  Abbey,  373 
Thumham  Castle,  342 
Tilijury  Fort,  241—243 
Tintagel  Castle,  499 
Tolmaen,  the  Great,  of  Cornwall, 

512 
Torrington  and  Appledore,  480 
Torture  in  the  Tower  of  London, 

29 
Totnes  Castle,  478 
Tournament  at   Richmond  Palace, 

>34 
Tower,  Keep  or  White  Tower  of 

London,  15 
Tower,  Palace  and  Prison,  and  its 

Memories,  15 
Traitors'  Gate,  Tower  of  London, 

20 


Traitors'    Heads  on    Old    London 

Bridge,  40 
Traitors'    Heads   on   Temple    Bai, 

108 — III 
Tunbridge  Castle,  301 


■yiCTORIA,     Queen,     born     at 

Kensington  Palace,  151 
Villiers,    George,     first     Duke     of 

Buckingham,  258  et  seq. 
Vingoes,  Death  Token  of  the,  527 
"Virgin's  Milk,"   at  Walsingham, 

544 


WAKEFIELD    Tower   of  Lon- 
'  ^      don,  19 
Walmer  Castle,  328 
Walpole,  Horace,  Account  of  a  Visit 

to  the  Cock  Lane  Ghost  by,  182 
Waltham  Abbey,  243—- 249 
Waltham  Abbey,  surrendered,  247 
Waltham  Holy  Cross'Church,  243 — 

248 
Walworth,  Sir  William,  Keeper  of 

Croydon  Park,  154 
Wanstead  House,  238 
Warren,  Earls  of,  at  Reigate  Castle, 

279 
Wat    Tyler's    Mob    plunders    the 

Temple,  115 
Watney,    Mr.,  his  Account  of  St. 

Osyth's  Priory,  216—221 
Waverley  Abbey,  268 
Wax    Effigy   of  Queen  Elizabeth, 

138 
Wellesley  Pole,  Mr.,  and  Wanstead 

House,  239 
Wellington,    Duke    of,    at   Strath- 
fieldsaye, 410 
Wellington,  Duke  of,  dies  at  Wal- 
mer Castle,  330,  33 1 
Wesminster  Abbey  built,  7 
Westminster  Abbey  Church  rebuilt, 

II 
"Whig Party"  at  Holland  House, 

163 
Whiteliall     attacked     by     Wyat'f 

Rebels,  168 
Whitehall  Banqueting  Houses,  168, 

169 


Index. 


S77 


Whitehall,   Charles  I.   executed  at, 

169 
Whitehall,  Charles  II.  dies  at,  170 
Whitehall,  Cromwell  at,  169 
Whitehall,    Fires    and   Floods  at, 

171 
Whitehall,  James  II.  at,  171 
Whitehall,  Palace  of,  168 
White  Tower,  the,  17 
William  III.  and  Queen  Anne  at 

Hampton  Court,  142 
William  III.   and  Queen  Caroline 

at  Kensington  Palace,  151 
William  III.  at  St.  James's  Palace, 

149 
Winchester  Castle  and  Palace,  384 
Winchester  Cross,  393 
Winchester  Cathedral,  428 
Winchester,  the  Bishop  of,  at  Farn- 

ham  Castle,  275 
Wimborne  Minster  and  Castle,  442 


Wimbome     St.    Giles's,    and     the 

Shaftesbury  Family,  444 
Witch   of  Fraddam,   the,   and  the 

Enchanter  of  Pengerswick,  525 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  at  the  Monastery 

of  the  Blackfriars,  184,  185 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  founds  Hampton 

Court  Palace,  139 
Wolsey,  Cardinal,  at  Whitehall,  168 
Wolsey,    Cardinal,    and    the    Star 

Chamber,  209 
Wolvesey  Castle,  Winchester,  3S8 
Wonders  of  Old  St.  Paul's,  i — 7 
Wyat,  Sir  Thomas,  in  the  Tower,  31 
Wyatt,  Sir  Henry,  at  Allington,  313 
Wykeham,   William  of,  and  Wui- 

chester  Cathedral,  434. 


"V7"0RK,  Duchess  of,  at  Oatlands, 
^      147 


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